Kandy Perahera August 2020 – A Celebration as Old as Time

The Esala Perahera is held in celebration of the Sacred Tooth Relic which is supposed to have belonged to Buddha when he was alive and was smuggled into Sri Lanka after his death by a princess. Since then it has been the display of a king’s might in the country. Though the Kandyan kingdom was ultimately defeated by colonial Britons, the cultural showcase has remained. It is a colourful parade of dancers, fire, lights and elephants dressed in glittering garb. The procession roams the streets every night for a week.

The Esala Perahera is one of the oldest religious festivals in the world, held in Kandy every year in August. It attracts over 200,000 tourists to hotels and bungalows in Kandy the likes of Mountbatten Bungalow, filling the city with a festive atmosphere.