A united journey in time

Kandy has become resplendent in all her glory. The entire city has spruced itself for the most august event of the year, the Esala Perahera. For one week Kandy becomes the focus of not just Sri Lanka but the world, when time stands still and history comes alive.

The devout and those out for a good time all flock to Kandy with one purpose in mind. The Perahera is at once a symbol of our past and our present. Of our richness of culture and celebration of that diversity. As described by the Chinese traveller Fa-Hien, whose book penned in the 5th Century has given many insights to Sri Lankan history, talks of the royal decree of the King as, “let all ecclesiastical and lay persons within the kingdom who wish to lay up a store of merit prepare and smooth the roads, adorn the streets and highways: let them scatter every kind of flower and offer incense in religious reverence to the relic.”
Hundreds of years later this is still being done. The perahera as we know it today was initiated by King Kirthi Sri Rajasinghe in 1775. It successfully amalgamated the most revered Hindu gods of Natha, Vishnu, Pattini and Kataragama in a massive melding of faith between Buddhists and Hindus that was to last through the centuries and defy the test of time. Sri Lankans believe that Natha is the guardian god of Kandy, Vishnu the protector of the island appointed by Lord Buddha himself, Kataragama will ensure victory and Pattini the goddess of purity. The Nikini Full Moon Poya Day is a celebration of the first ‘Dharma Sangayanawa’ that was held three months after the passing away of Lord Buddha, to accumulate all the dharma that was preached during his lifetime. The twinning of these two events, that of the ‘Dharma Sangayana” and one of its many manifestations the Esala Perahera, to this day is a symbol of the best that the country has to offer in terms of unity in diversity.

The tooth relic as we all know was brought by the Princess of Kalinga and presented to King Kirthi Sri Megawarna who received it with great reverence and enshrined it in Anuradhapura. After being moved to several places in times of trouble it finally arrived in Kandy in 1590. The British annexed the Kingdom of Kandy in 1815 and the relic was secretly removed from its temple in Kandy during the abortive rebellion two years later. As the relic was a direct symbol of kingship the English were keen to recover it and establish their “right” to the land. Therefore on 28 May 1828, it was given a public exposition under the auspices of the then Governor Sir Edward Barnes. From this point onwards the earlier Perahera was revived to include the multitude of cultural events that we are familiar with today.
For the thousands that will pack the roadside, wait for hours on end, run the risk of being pick pocketed and crushed in the melee will be the compulsion of being part of this event, which goes far beyond the actual Perahera and the merit it will bring.

It has become a way of life that defines who we are and many are the epistles that have been penned on its grandeur. From D.H Lawrence who witnessed a comparatively austere Raja Perahera on a night in March 1922 but was nonetheless impressed enough to note in one of his letters following the trip while sailing for Australia, “it was night and flaming torches of coconut blazing, and the great elephants in their trappings, about a hundred and the dancers with tom-toms and bagpipes, and half naked and jeweled, and then the Kandyan chiefs in their costumes, and more dancers and more elephants and more chiefs, and more dancers, so wild and strange and perfectly fascinating, heaving along by the flames of torches in the hot, still, starry night…. It was wonderful and gorgeous….” to mesmerized foreigners who faithfully arrive on our sun dappled shores annually braving war and tourist advisories; it is a testimony to the wonder of the Esala Perahera.
Its impressiveness has not been lost since these words were written. Just as Kandy is defined by the Perahera so too is the Perahera defined by Kandy. From the point of being divided into nindagam (parish villages) that under royal decree are to facilitate and support the Temple of the Tooth and it’s most important function, that of the Esala Perahera to the pineapple hawkers and sweetmeat sellers that sprinkle the street every few yards all add their own jolt of electricity into the already overcharged air. Even the rampant commercialization and pollution one sees during this time cannot dim the charm of Kandy as the Nikini full moon rises so too does the spirits of people who come from all walks of life to witness and be part of something greater than themselves, and for just a few moments in time become part of an immortal tradition.

Pix by Rukshan Abeywansha