Kandy Esala perahera

The Kandy Esala perahera is the most spectacular religious procession in Asia, that lasts 10 days and is held annually at the medieval royal city of Kandy, beginning with the Full Moon Poya Day in the Buddhist month of Esala.

It is very grand with elegant costumes and takes place in July or August in Kandy, depending when the Esala month falls. It is a Buddhist festival consisting of dances and caparisoned(richly-decorated) elephants.

There are fire-dances, whip-crackers, Kandyan dances and various other cultural items. The elephants are usually adorned with lavish garments. The festival ends with the traditional 'diya-kepeema'. The significance of this Kandy Esala perahera is to invoke blessings of the gods to give the farmers rain to cultivate their crops. The ritual is performed by carrying the Sacred Tooth Relic of the Buddha through the city streets which is done with great ceremony.

The Tooth Relic was brought to Ceylon (Sri Lanka) in 310 AD and the first perahera was held in Anuradhapura, the first capital where the sacred relic was housed.

Even as the capitals were shifted due to invasions, the Tooth Relic went with it too and was much revered and always in the custody of the king. Finally finding a permanent resting place in the hill capital of the last Sinhalese kindom Kandy, it is kept in the "Dalada Maligawa" (Temple of the Tooth Relic) which was built by king Wimaladharmasuriya in the 16th century.

The three-storey building erected solely for the purpose of housing. the Sacred Tooth Relic still stands and is the most visited temple of Sri Lanka.