The Pageant of Splendour

Lionel WIJESIRI

NATIONAL PRIDE: There can be few festivals in the world to match the Kandy Esala Perahera pageant for passion and splendour. It is an annual event of great historic, aesthetic and cultural significance that takes place in the lunar month of Esala.

It has been the subject also of much scholarly study and intense artistic appreciation. There are several theories and interpretations regarding the origin of the pageant. One of the main theories is based on the Sacred Tooth

 Relic, which is indeed in the centre of the ceremony.

The Sacred Tooth Relic of the Buddha was brought to Sri Lanka from Kalinga in India in the reign of Kirthi Sri Meghavanna (303-331 AD) and it has since been the custom to celebrate this event with the highest esteem and reverence.

However, Sri Lankan chronicles suggest that long before this annual festival a ritual was held since the 3rd century B.C. in the hills to propitiate the rain god. It is quite possible that this practice continued in a new guise in the succeeding centuries along with the Buddhist Sacred Tooth worship.

Whatever the origins of the Esala Perahera, the general belief is that the pageant in Kandy commenced in the reign of Kirti Sri Rajasinha (1747-1781 AD).

At any rate, it was in his reign that the Perahera took its present form: it is the Dalada Perahera with the amalgamation of the four Devale Peraheras (processions associated with Hindu deities, Gods Vishnu and Natha, the Goddess Pattini, and the God Kataragama.

There is another story how the Dalada perahera came to be merged with the four devale peraheras. When the Bhikkus from Siam (Thailand), headed by the Most Ven. Upali Maha Thera, came to Sri Lanka, to confer the defunct ‘Upasampada’, their arrival coincided with the Esala festival in Kandy, when preparations were under way to hold the Devale peraheras invoking the blessings of the gods for the king and his subjects.

Maha Thera Upali, heard the sounds of jingalls (a kind of large Indian swivel musket), and inquired from the king what was it about. The king replied that arrangements were being made to hold the Devale peraheras, during the month of Esala, to appease the gods and to receive their blessings.

The Maha Thera showed his displeasure of King giving preference to Hindu customs, in a country where orthodox Buddhism has gained ground for more than one thousand years.

The king, realising his mistake decided not to offend the Maha Thera. He decided that the Dalada Perahera should lead the procession followed by the Devale peraheras, in their order of importance.

The Kandy Esala Perahera begins with the Kap Situveema, in which a sanctified young Jack tree is cut and planted in the premises of each of the four Devales dedicated to the four guardian gods. Traditionally it was meant to shower blessings on the King and the people.

Thereafter for the next five nights, the “Devale Peraheras” take place within the premises of the four Devales with the priest of each Devale taking the pole every evening, accompanied by music and drumming, flag and canopy bearers, spearman and the Ran Ayudha, the sacred insignia of the gods.

On the sixth night, the Kumbal Perahera begins and continues on for five days.

The Randoli Perahera begins after five nights of the Kumbal Perahera. Randoli refers to palanquins on which the Queens of the ruling Kings traditionally travelled.

Initially, the Devale Peraheras assemble in front of the Sri Dalada Maligawa with their insignia placed on the ransivige (a dome-like structure) accompanied by the Basnayake Nilames - the lay custodians of the Devales). There are four palanquins in the Randoli perahera formerly used by royalty as litters.

They are richly embroidered couched boxed in with curtains are attached to long poles which act as supports for the bearers who carry them on their shoulders. The significance of their presence in the Randoli perahera is that the gods of the four shrines are supposed to ride in the palanquins as they are carried in the procession.

The relic casket, which is a substitute for the Tooth Relic, is placed inside the ransivige affixed to the Maligawa

 Elephant, a tusker.

At about 8 pm, the Maligawa Perahera joins the awaiting Devale Peraheras and leads the procession. Whip-crackers and fireball acrobats clear the path, followed by the Buddhist flag bearers.

Then, riding on the first elephant, is the official called Peramuna Rala (Front Official). He is followed by Kandyan drummers and dancers who enthral the crowd, and are themselves followed by elephants and other groups of musicians, dancers and flag bearers.

A group of singers dressed in white heralds the arrival of the Maligawa Tusker carrying the Sacred Tooth Relic. The Diyawadana Nilame (traditionally required to do everything in his power to ensure rain in the correct season) walks in traditional Kandyan-clothed splendour after the tusker.

The second procession is from the Natha Devale, which faces the Sri Dalada Maligawa and is said to be the oldest building in Kandy, dating back to the 14th Century. The third is from the Vishnu Devale (Vishnu being a Hindu god), also known as the Maha Devale. It is situated in front of the main gate of the Natha Devale.

The fourth procession is from the Kataragama Devale (dedicated to the God of Kataragama, identified with the warrior god Skanda) which is on Kotugodalle Vidiya (a street in Kandy).

This procession includes Kavadi, the peacock dance, in which the pilgrim-dances carry semicircular wooden contraptions studded with peacock feathers on their shoulders.

The fifth and final procession is from the Pattini Devale (Pattini being a goddess associated with the cure of infectious diseases and called upon in times of drought and famine), which is situated to the West of the Natha Devale. This is the only procession that has women dancers.

The pageant ends with the Diya Kepeema, which is the water cutting ceremony at the Mahaweli River at Getambe, a town a few miles from Kandy.

A Day Perahera is held to mark the ceremony. Only a section of the overnight procession accompanied by the kapuralas in charge of the four shrines of Natha, Vishnu, Kataragama and Pattini proceed to the ferry at Getambe and await the first light of the day for the performance of the ritual.

When the first rays of sun fall they draw a circle in water with a sword. The water within that circle is taken to fill the pitchers.

Although Sri Lanka cannot boast of street carnivals like those in Brazil, Trinidad or England, the Kandy Esala Perahara is not second to any of these Western extravaganzas. Besides being an event of spectacular exuberance it is also an exhibition of religious devotion and national pride.

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