The Chronicle
Two thousand years,
still walking.
The Kandy Esala Perahera is a ten-night Buddhist procession that has, in some form, been walked for more than sixteen centuries. What follows is a record of its origin, its rites, and the figures who carry it forward.
- 01
Chapter I
The Sacred Tooth Relic
A fragment of bone, an emblem of kingship, and the still centre around which a ten-night procession turns. The history of the Dalada and its journey to Kandy.
- 02
Chapter II
The Five Peraheras
The ten nights of the Esala Perahera are not one procession but five, twice walked. A reading of the structure, and what distinguishes each night from the last.
- 03
Chapter III
The Cast of the Procession
Every Perahera is walked by roughly a thousand people and one hundred elephants. A guide to the figures in the procession, in the order in which they appear.
- 04
Chapter IV
Diya Kepeema — the Water Cutting
At dawn after the Maha Randoli, the Kapuralas wade into the Mahaweli and describe a circle in the water. This is how the Perahera ends.
