August

As the August moon waxes in the Buddhist month of Esala, a ten-day-long pageant takes over Kandy. Esala perehara Commences on Esala Full Moon Poya Day on the month of July and Concludes on Nikini Full Moon Poya Day on the month of August.

The festival is a synthesis of Hindu and Buddhist beliefs and is dedicated not just to Skanda but also to Buddha. It is held to invoke the blessings of the gods for rain, fertility, successful crops and good health.

The most treasured item in the procession is a copy of a golden reliquary said to hold a tooth of the Buddha. Legend has it that the Buddha's tooth was brought to Sri Lanka in the third century AD, hidden in the tresses of a princess. First perehera was performed in Anuradhapura the first capital where the sacred relic was housed. Even as the capitals were shifted for security reasons due to invasions, the tooth relic went with it too and was much revered and always in the custody of the king. Finally finding a permanent resting place in the hill capital of the last Sinhalese kindom Kandy, It lies in the “Dalada Maligawa” (Palace of the Tooth Relic) which was built by king Wimaladharma suriya in the 16th century.

The ritual of the Perahera  continues in Kandy with more and more people attending each year to watch majestic tusker proudly parade the streets of the ancient Sinhalese kingdom followed by over more than a hundred elephants with the custodians and other officials dressed in the traditional Sinhalese attire of chieftains riding them.The procession includes whip crackers, torch bearers fire-juggling acrobats, sumptuously decorated elephants, traditional dancers, oboe-tooting musicians, banners, palanquins and thousands of barefoot pilgrims and swordsmen. The action is made even more mesmerizing because it happens at night.  Elephants feature heavily as they are symbols of abundance and fertility - the "clouds who walk the Earth", instrumental in attracting the vital rains for harvest time.

The main Perahera procession consists of five separate Peraheras:

- The Dalada Maligawa Perahera
- The Natha Dewala Perahera
- The Maha Vishnu Dewala Perahera
- The Katharagama Dewale Perahera
- The Pattini Dewale Perahera


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