This post isn’t sufficient to give you a
good picture of what this Perahera is really like. I have tried my hardest to
describe it to you as best I can, but it will never compare to witnessing this
majestic event first hand. A ‘Perahera’ is a religious procession and the Kandy
Esala Perahera is the biggest and most popular one in Sri Lanka. It is held in
July and August. This year, I was lucky enough to join a group of my clients to
view the Perahera from the Lake view balcony at the Queens Hotel. This is the
best spot to view this colourful procession as you have an unobstructed view of
the procession leaving the gates of the ‘Dalada Maligawa’ [the Temple of the
Tooth Relic] in Kandy.
It is not just the procession that you will
find fascinating; it is the crowd as well. Thousands of people come as early as
they can and find the best possible spot on the pavement on the route of the Perahera
and sit there until it’s over. In his book ‘Ceylon History in Stone’ when
talking about the Kandy Perahera, R. Raven-Hart wrote: “for me, the most
wonderful part of it is the crowd. I have never seen such a happy and
considerate crowd, passing women and children to the front, waiting for hours
in contented patience”.
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| The crowd awaiting the Perahera |
Although now it is predominantly a Buddhist
procession, at the beginning it was a Hindu festival that celebrated the Dewala
Gods. The festival lasts for 15 days. The Dewala Peraheras are held on the
first five nights. They take place inside the four Dewalas; Natha, Vishnu,
Katharagama and Pattini. The next five nights consist of the Kumbal Perahera which
is then followed by five nights of the Randoli Perahera which is bigger. The
festival ends with the ‘Diya Kapeema’ or water cutting ceremony and the Day-Perahera.
If you’re planning to watch this magnificent parade (and you should definitely
add it to your bucket list), I suggest you try and make it for one of the
Kumbal or Randoli Peraheras.
A loud cannon is shot to inform the city of
Kandy of the start of the procession. From this point, the roads are closed and
the path is cleared (and washed) for the procession and the crowd settles and eagerly
awaits the parade in silence. It is led by whip crackers who can be heard from miles
away. This is done to clear the path and to inform spectators that the
procession is nearing. A surge of excitement ran down my spine when I first
heard the niyanda-fibre whips being sounded. They finally came into view about
fifteen minutes from the first time I heard them. They were followed by fire
dancers and Buddhist flag bearers.
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| The whip crackers in action |
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| The Fire dancers |
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| Fire stunts |
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| Flag Bearers |
The first elephant then follows, ridden by
the ‘Peramuna Rala’, the front official, dressed in traditional attire and
carrying an Ola Book in his hands. It used to be a royal warrant for the
procession, but now, it is a list of the Temple lands and service tenures.
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| The Front Official behind the sword bearers. |
He was followed by several groups of Kandian
drummers and dancers, elephants of all sizes dressed in colourful, lit up and
heavily embellished cloaks and other dancers and flag bearers.
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| Kandian Drummers |
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| Decorated Elephants |
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| Balancing spinning disks on sticks |
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| Ancient martial arts fighter dancers |
Then, the Maligawa Tusker carrying the Sacred
Tooth Relic on its back rounded the corner and was followed by the ‘Diyawadana
Nilame’, the lay custodian in charge of the relic and the whole procession. This
ends the ‘Maligawa’ part of the Perahera.
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| The Maligawa Tusker and the Sacred Tooth Relic |
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| The Diyawadana Nilame |
The next four parts of the Perahera were
for the four dewalas; Natha, Vishnu, Katharagama and Pattini, each with its own
collection of drummers, dancers, elephants, relics and ‘Basnayake Nilames’ (lay
custodians for the Dewalas).
The Perahera begins at an auspicious time between
6 PM and 8 PM and ends at around 10.30 PM. Another interesting feature of it is
that people of all ages take part. You can see small kids, around 7 or 8 years
old dancing with fire batons as well as old men taking part in the very active
and fast Kandian Dance routines. Another unique feature of the Kandy Esala
Perahera is that only men are a part of the procession except for the Pattini
Dewala part which has women, because the Hindu Deity, ‘Pattini Amma’ was a
woman.
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| Kawadi Dancers in the Dewala portion of the Perahera |
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| The youngest firedancer |
Like I mentioned before, I have not done
justice to this event as the parade and the feelings you experience while watching
it such as the build-up and the anticipation as well as the marvel, can’t be
put in to words. It is something that is indescribable. This post in essence is
a teaser that aims to make you want to experience it for yourself!
