Kandy Esala Perahera

This historical procession is held annually to pay homage to the Sacred Tooth Relic of Buddha housed at the Sri Dalada Maligawa in Kandy.

The festival ends with the traditional Diya-kepeema ritual, a water cutting ceremony which is held at the Mahaweli River at Getambe, Kandy.

The Esala Perahera, which is thought to date back to the 3rd century BC, was a ritual enacted to request the gods for rainfall.

Upali Thera believed this to be inappropriate in a Buddhist nation, and his influence led to the king declaring that "Henceforth gods and men are to follow the Buddha".

In the absence of the king, a chief lay custodian called the "Diyawadana Nilame" was appointed to handle routine administrative matters concerning the relic and its care.

[citation needed] The Kandy Esala Perahera begins with Kap Situveema or Kappa, in which a sanctified young jackfruit tree (Artocarpus integrifolia) is cut and planted on the premises of each of the four Devales dedicated to the four guardian gods Natha, Vishnu, Katharagama and the goddess Pattini.

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.

After a further five nights of the Randoli Perahera, 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.

Noted tusker elephants who participated as the main casket bearer of the Kandy Esala perehera festival include: Sri Lanka portal