The Esala Perahera

The Esala Perahera (A-suh-luh peh-ruh-ha-ruh) is the grand festival of Esala held in Kandy. Its one of the largest festivals itis believed to be a fusion of two separate but interconnected 'Perahera' (Processions) – The Esala and Dalada. The Esala Perahera which is thought to date back to the 3rd century BC, was a ritual enacted to request the gods for rainfall. The Dalada Perahera is believed to have begun when the Sacred Tooth Relic of the Buddha was brought to Sri Lanka from India during the 4th Century AD.

The Perahera is a 10 day festival that happens over July or August and it has become a unique symbol of Sri Lanka. It is a Buddhist festival consisting of dances and richly-decorated elephants with the highlight being the relic casket, which is a substitute for the Tooth Relic, placed inside the ransivige (a dome-like structure) affixed to the largest of Elephants, (always a tusker).

The procession consisits of hundreds of dancers and drummers and the elephants usually number near a hundred. There are fire-dances, whip-dances, Kandian dances and various other cultural dances. Each elephant is usually adorned with lavish garments and covered in a tailor-made, embroided cloth which has been created by a specific tailor, flown in from the Indian mainland. The festival ends with the traditional 'diya-kepeema'.