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| The Tooth Relic and Esala Perahera |
Esala Perahera (the festival of the tooth) is the
grand festival of Esala held in Sri Lanka. It is very grand with elegant
costumes. Happening in July or August in Kandy, it has become a unique symbol
of Sri Lanka. It is a Buddhist festival consisting of dances and nicely
decorated elephants. There are fire-dances, whip-dances, Kandyan dances and
various other cultural dances. The elephants are usually adorned with lavish
garments. The festival ends with the traditional 'diya-kepeema'. The Esala
believed to be a fusion of two separate but interconnected 'Peraheras'
(Processions) - The Esala and Dalada. The Esala Perahera which is thought to
date back to the 3rd century BC, was a ritual enacted to request the gods for
rainfall. The Dalada Perahera is believed to have begun when the Sacred Tooth
Relic of the Buddha was brought to Sri Lanka from India during the 4th century
CE, eight hundred years after the passing away of the Buddha.
According to tradition, the Tooth Relic was taken
in procession to Sri Lanka by Princess Hemamala and Prince Dantha. The rituals
connected with the Tooth Relic are conducted by Monks of the Malwatte and
Asgiriya Chapters of the Buddhist clergy in Sri Lanka. It is the duty of the
Diyawadana Nilame to organize the Perahera and thus he summons the large number
of officials of the Temple of the Tooth and entrusts them with various
ceremonial duties connected with the conducting of the Perahera. He first gets
the auspicious time from the Nekath Mohottala, the advisor on astrological matters.
The task of organising the different types of drummers is handed over to the
four officials known as the Panikka Mura Baarakaruwo.
The Maligawa officials also meet the owners of the
elephants due to take part in the Perahera (most elephants are privately
owned). The dance troupes are given time to prepare. The Basnayake Nilames (the
lay custodians of the Devales) are then told to organise their processions. 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. Initially, the Devale Peraheras
assemble in front of the Temple of the Tooth, which is Sri Lanka's most
important Buddhist Shrine and where the Buddha's Sacred Tooth Relic has been
kept since the 16th Century) with their insignias placed on the ransivige (a
dome-like structure) accompanied by the Basnayake Nilames (the lay custodians
of the Devales).
The relic casket, which is a substitute for the
Tooth Relic, is placed inside the ransivige affixed to the Maligawa Elephant, a
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 enthrall 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 splendor 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
Katharagama Devale (dedicated to the God of Katharagama, identified with the
warrior god Skanda) which is on Kottugodalle 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 dances.
