The Sacred Tooth Relic

The Sri Dalada Maligawa in Kandy houses what is venerated as a tooth relic of the Buddha, and is architecturally significant in its own right: a two-storey shrine within a moated complex, its octagonal Paththirippuwa added in the Kandyan period, decorated with elaborate metalwork, ivory carving and painted ceilings.

As a temple that is simultaneously a religious relic house and a royal-period architectural showpiece, it's a useful site to compare against a purely rock-cut or cave temple like Dambulla - the contrast is between architecture built around a relic versus architecture built into an existing natural site.