Esala Perahera:

The most spectacular pageant of Kandy S

In just two days time (July 22), the city of Kandy will celebrate one of the most spectacular Buddhist festivals of the year - the Esala Perahera. This 10-day pageant which leads up to the Full Moon Poya Day which falls on August 5, this year will draw thousands of visitors, both local and foreign to the historic city.

The festival which combines both Hindu and Buddhist beliefs is dedicated to God Skanda and the Buddha.

It is held to invoke the blessings of the gods for rain, fertility, successful crops and good health.The spectacular pageant steeped in history, rituals and traditions with the Maligawa tusker carrying the golden casket continuing the Sacred Tooth Relic of the Buddha, is an event not to be missed and it is important that we see this pageant at least once in our lives.

Most of you must have already seen this pageant and been highly fascinated, especially by the majestic elephants that are magnificently caparisoned in colourful silk. The number of elephants increases daily making the Perahera more spectacular each night. One of the reasons that elephants feature heavily in the celebrations is because they are considered to be symbols of abundance and fertility - the "Clouds who walk the Earth" - and are instrumental in attracting the vital rains for harvest time.The Maligawa Perahera which is followed by those of the four Devales (Hindu Temples), the Natha, Vishnu, Kataragama and Pattini, illuminated by torchbearers because it is held in the night, will be held from July 22 to July 26.There are two kinds of pageants. The first is called the "Kumbal Perahera", which parades for the first five nights July 27 to (July 31). Then the "Randoli Perahera", the main Perahera which parades the streets on the last five days (August 1 to August 5). The last night's Perahera is the grandest of all.Randoli means the 'Queen's Palanquin'. Up to 1775 A.D palanquins were carried alongside the elephants in the Perahera.

The origins of the Esala Perahera date back to the fourth century AD, during the reign of King Kirti Siri Meghawanna, who decreed that the Special Relic - the Buddha's Sacred Tooth - be carried in procession through the city, once a year.

This quickly developed into a major religious event that gained worldwide appeal although it was not until 1775 under the reign of King Kirti Sri Rajasinha that the modern festival took shape.

Two other important associations with the Kandy Perahera are the 'Kap Tree Planting' ceremony and the 'Water-Cutting ceremony that take place before and after the festival respectively.

Before the festival starts, cuttings from an esala tree are traditionally planted in the four devales representing a vow that the festival will be held. Following the last Perahera, a priest wades out into the Mahaweli River and 'cuts' the waters with a sword, which symbolically releases a supply of water for the coming year.

The Devale Day Perahera observing the after water-cutting ritual at Getambe will be on August 6.