Sri lanka Kandy Perahera 2008

The kandy perahera was held last last week in kandy. It was my unforgettable cultural event in my life.
Sri Lanka’s biggest cultural, historic, colorful and pulsating pageant “Kandy Esala Perahera” reaches its climax with the fifth and final Maha Randoli perahera.
The Maha Randoli perahera started from the Sri Dalada Maligawa at 7.38 p.m. proceeded along Dalada Veediya, Yatinuwara Veediya, Kande Veediya, D.S. Senanayake Veediya, Raja Veediya and return to the Dalada Maligawa along Maligawa Chaturasraya. The same night the Devale Peraheras joined the Dalada Maligawa perahera at 1.45 a.m. (August 17) and proceeded along Dalada Veediya, D.S. Senanayake Veediya to the Gedige Viharaya and after depositing the Sacred Relic Casket there, return to devales and Maligawa.

The kandy perahera which is also known as the Festival of the August Moon is one of the most spectacular events not only in Sri Lanka but in all of South East Asia. In the lunar month of Esala, in August the sacred hill
capital of Kandy comes alive with activity to prepare for the grand spectacle that is the ‘Kandy Perehera’.

This unique ritual is a pageant that dates back over 2,000 years with its religious roots in paying homage to the sacred tooth relic of Buddha, which is enshrined in the most famous dalada maligawa or “Temple of the Tooth” in the sacred hill capital of Kandy. This festival is also held to propitiate the Gods to ensure timely rain for cultivation, in addition to the fact that the month of Esala commemorates the birth of the God Vishnu.

For ten nights and a day the perahera takes to the streets of Kandy, as the old cannon booms after dusk, the procession of elephants, dancers, drummers and torch bearers file past the pilgrims in their thousands as they line the path of the parade, shouting their pious cries of “Sadhu” (thanksgiving). The whip crackers clear the streets as the dancers leap and swirl in the air in frenzied rhythm, while the stately chiefs all dressed up in their traditional garb, walk along the drummers and torch bearers. Also you can count elephants in perahera. This is a memorable experience of a lifetime