Kandy Esala Perahera 2024 – A Grand Buddhist Festival

The Kandy Esala Perahera, one of Sri Lanka’s most significant and oldest Buddhist festivals, will take place in July or August 2024. This spectacular event, featuring dancers, jugglers, musicians, firebreathers, and elaborately decorated elephants, marks the commemoration of Buddha’s first teaching after his enlightenment. Lasting ten days, the festival showcases a vibrant parade known as ‘Perahera’, a procession of performers and caparisoned elephants parading through the streets of Kandy, celebrating a religious event with grandeur. If you’ve booked a luxury hotel in Kandy that overlooks the city streets, you can view this event from the comfort of your room. Visitors during this time also opt for hotels such as Hunas Falls Hotel Kandy that’s located a short drive away from the city for the unmatched views of the mountains and proximity to wildlife.

The Esala Perahera honours the Sacred Tooth Relic and the four guardian deities: Natha, Vishnu, Kataragama, and Pattini. The Kandy Maligawa Perahera leads the procession, followed by those of the respective temples of these guardian gods. Post the fall of the Kandyan Kingdom to the British in 1815, the sacred Tooth Relic came under the care of the Buddhist clergy, with a lay custodian overseeing administrative matters. The festival aims to invoke the blessings of the gods for rainfall and agricultural prosperity. The rituals commence with ‘Kap Situweema’, involving the planting of a sanctified Jackfruit tree, performed at an auspicious time with prayers and offerings, setting the stage for this mesmerizing pageant, celebrated as one of Asia’s most beautiful.