Elephant Island: The Kandy Perahera - Asia's Most Spectacular Pageant

The Tooth Relic Casket On The Temple Tusker

History

Kandy is the venue of the Esala Perahera, easily the most colourful pageant of Asia. It is
held for 10 nights and one day at the end of July to early August each year, in honor of
the Buddha’s Tooth Relic. The actual dates are dependent on the period of the Full
Moon, and the temple authorities confirm these dates generally by January or February of
each year.
As the pageantry of the Esala Perahera unfolds through ten nights each year, the city
takes on the air of a torch-lit dreamland, complete with a hundred or more colourfully
caparisoned elephants, drummers, dancers, and chieftains in the rare colourful trappings of
the old kingdom.

Kandyan Fire Dancers

Temple Tusker With Tooth Relic

The Tooth Relic continues to be housed in Kandy, which was the last royal capital of the
Sinhalese Kings. The Dalada Maligawa Perahera harks back to ancient festivals
parading the Tooth Relic over 1700 years ago.
Few spectacles, if any, in the world surpass this annual feast of sight and sound, custom
and ritual. Thousands of foreign visitors from diverse lands come to Sri Lanka each year
for the Kandy Perahera.
There are fire-dances, whip-dances, Kandyan dances and various other cultural dances.
The elephants are usually adorned with lavish illuminated garments. The relic casket, which
is a substitute for the Tooth Relic, is placed on top of the Maligawa Elephant, a tusker.

Temple Tusker And Chieftain

The Kumbal Perahera

The Kumbal Perahera begins and continues on for the first five days. These Peraheras
are associated with the local deities of temples that lie within the Temple Of The Tooth
complex.

The Randoli Perahera

The last five nights are the best with many more elephants and temple dancers joining the
procession with each successive nights, and crowds also increasing markedly.

The Final Night of the Randoli Perahera

The 10th Night of the festival is the most magnificent, with up to 100 elephants taking part,
along with hundreds of temple dancers.

The Day Perahera

The 11th Day

The pageant ends with the Diya Kepeema, a ‘water cutting’ ceremony at the Mahaweli
River at Getambe, a town a few miles from Kandy. A Day Perahera is held to mark the
ceremony. This perhaps gives the best opportunity for photographers, as it is held during
daylight hours.

Grandstand Seats To Watch The Perahera

Huge crowds consisting of 100 000 people and more gather at Kandy during the Perahera
Season. Most watch the Perahera from the roadside, with many people choosing to
reserve places at the best vantage points by assembling from the early morning onwards!
Tourists generally prefer to watch from special Grandstand Seating that is put up next to
the Temple Of The Tooth. This is by far the safest and best place to observe the Perahera
– tickets however are priced at about £35-£55 per person by the relevant authorities.

Kandy Perahera Dates 2012

First Day Of The Kumbal Perahera - 23/07/12
Last Night Of The Randoli Perahera - 01/08/12
Day Perahera - 02/08/12