The
glittering Esala Perahera, which is 235 years old, is one of the grandest
events in Sri Lanka. Many locals and tourists look forward to witnessing this
wonderful festival every year. This is held during the Esala month, in August,
honoring the sacred tooth relic. Many travelers who have been fascinated by the
Perahera have written notes about it; among them is the famous British poet and
novelist, D. H. Lawrence, who describes the Perahera as a "perpetual fire-laughing
motion among the slow shuffle of elephants." The Sacred Tooth Relic
(Dālada) of the Buddha is the most venerated object of worship for Buddhists.
Its present house, the Temple of the Tooth Relic (Dālada Māligāwa) in Kandy,
Sri Lanka is considered the foremost sacred place of worship in the Buddhist
world.
Legend
has it that 1,700 years ago one of the Buddha’s teeth was stolen from his
funeral pyre and smuggled into Sri Lanka. Today, the relic is a sacred symbol
for Sri Lankans and housed in the country’s most sacred temple, Dalada Maligawa
(Temple of the Tooth).
In
its current form, Esala Perahera incorporates Hindu deities into its
festivities, as four of the parades now start at Hindu temples. There’s a
parade for every night of the festival (10 in all), with the processions
getting longer, more intense and increasingly colorful as the festival gets
underway. The parades are a sensual spectacle: you’ll inhale wafting incense,
jasmine and frangipani bouquets; sway along to the incessant drum beats; stare
in delight at the elephants and dancers adorned in exotic costumes; and gasp in
awe as fire eaters swing burning coconut husks from chains and men crack whips
to scare away demons only inches from people’s faces.
Decadently
dressed dancers, incessant drumming, the intoxicating scent of incense—it’s no
wonder the famous British poet and novelist D.H. Lawrence once described Esala
Perahera as a “perpetual fire-laughing motion among the slow shuffle of
elephants.” Honoring the tooth relic of the Buddha, this festival makes you
feel you’ve been transported to a tribal gathering hundreds of years ago, only
now there are cameras, and you’ll want to take plenty of photos.
The
ceremonial cutting down of a jack tree blesses the beginning of the festival,
and the first five nights, known as Kumbal Perahera, host intimate gatherings
at shrines and small processions just off Kandy Lake. The last 5 nights, known
as Randoli Perahera, get progressively larger and more intense until the last
night, on the full moon, when you’ll witness one of the most feverishly
energetic parades ever. While the procession has a reputation for running long,
you know the climax is coming when the Maligawa Tusker, a carriage with a
replica of the Buddha’s tooth, arrives. Before you know it, there’s a parade of
enormous elephants decked out in their finest silk costumes swaying to the
drumbeat. The next morning a “water cutting” ceremony through the Mahaweli
Ganga River ritualizes the divide between pure and impure and honors the water
gods for a good year ahead. A goblet of water from the ceremony is stored and
used in the tree-planting ritual that signals the beginning of the next year’s
festival. Esala Perahera is one of the world’s best examples of how collective
effervescence can encompass not only locals and devotees, but anyone who’s
lucky enough to take part in this ancient, alluring festival.
Serene Vacations
Travel agent and Tour Operator
Marine City Business Complex, No. 46, 1/8, First Floor,
Station Road, Dehiwala, Sri Lanka
Tel: +94 11 2721519 / +94 777 751 788
Email : susan@eol.lk / serenev@sltnet.lk
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