SRI LANKA GUIDE: COLOMBO TO GALLE : PERAHERA POYA FULL MOON FESTIVAL

Featured
Nows
Wednesday, 02nd October
SRI LANKA GUIDE: COLOMBO TO GALLE : PERAHERA POYA ...

Perahera / Poya is the full moon festival that moves around the whole country, every month. Peraheras, meaning Processions, date back to the reign of the Kandyan King Kirthi Sri Rajasinghe (1747–1781); earlier versions (going as far back as the 3^rd century BC) of the ceremony stood as rituals to request the gods for rainfall. Buddhist monks organized the celebrations. Today, Perahera is still a religious day, a holiday on a Friday or Monday where no alcohol is sold.

Perahera is in a big town every month of the year – it’s a national holiday. People have the day off and during the day, can go to the city park to observe the elephants being prepared for the nighttime parade. Elephants are indigenous to Sri Lanka and are found all over the country. Mahouts set up in a park during the day of the festival. The mahouts care for and prepare the elephants – cuts bamboo for them, bathes them, and dresses them in elaborate masked costumes for the evening festivities. Each elephant is chained to the nearest tree, which is difficult to reconcile; go during the day and watch as they’re washed in a big pool, rolling around, being scrubbed, raising their trunks (The elephants do seem to really enjoy getting bathed). Later, the dressed elephants are brought out for fire dancing. A monthly Carnival minus the overt sex. Perahera is definitely... spectacular.

April 2013