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Esala Perahera:
A sight to behold
The Tooth Relic of the Buddha is a sacred symbol for Sri Lankans and
is housed in the country's most revered temple, the Dalada Maligawa
(Temple of the Tooth). The Dalada Maligawa is situated in the central
city of Kandy.
The Esala Perahera incorporates Hindu deities into its festivities,
as four of the parades start at Hindu temples. There's a parade for
every night of the festival (10 in all), with the processions getting
longer, more intense and increasingly colourful as the festival gets
underway.
The parades are a wonderful spectacle: you'll inhale wafting incense,
jasmine and frangipani bouquets; sway along to the incessant drum beats;
stare in delight at the elephants and dancers adorned in exotic
costumes; and gasp in awe as fire eaters swing burning coconut husks
from chains and men crack whips to scare away demons only inches from
the people's faces.
The ceremonial cutting down of a jak tree blesses the beginning of
the festival, and the first five nights, known as the Kumbal perahera,
host gatherings at shrines and small processions just off the Kandy
Lake.
The last five nights, known as the Randoli Perahera, get
progressively larger and more intense until the final night, on the full
moon, when you'll witness one of the most feverishly energetic parades
ever.
While the procession has a reputation for running long, you know the
climax is coming when the Maligawa Tusker with a bejewelled carriage
carrying a replica of the Buddha's tooth, arrives. Before you know it,
there's a parade of enormous elephants decked out in their finest silk
costumes swaying to the drumbeat.
The next morning a 'water cutting' ceremony through the Mahaweli
Ganga ritualises the divide between pure and impure and honours the
water gods for a good year ahead.
A goblet of water from the ceremony is stored and used in the
tree-planting ritual that signals the beginning of the next year's
festival.
The Esala Perahera is overwhelming, but it's one of the world's best
festivals. Not only locals and devotees, but anyone who's lucky enough
can also take part in this ancient, alluring festival.
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