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the masons on site were telling me how great the Perehara would
be and that it is the biggest celebration in the Buddhist calendar
although they tend not to go because it has become, in their eyes,
too touristy.
We managed to get accommodation and a balcony view of the festival
quite easily for the first night and the party that followed lived
up to my expectations. During the week before, I found out about
a Buddhist monk from Britain who had been practising in a Temple
in Galle, just half an hour away. He came to Hikkaduwa and gave
us a talk on the principles behind Buddhism. There
are debates that will continue to go on for as long as Buddhism
is around whether it is a religion or a philosophy. I've grown to
like the theory behind it all, but I'm not totally sold on many
of its principles. At the Perehara in the mountain city of Kandy,
we had to arrive on our balcony four hours early to save our seats.
We were originally going to take it in turns to 'guard' the balcony
whilst the rest of us went for something to eat. However, a take
away around the corner was taking telephone orders and delivering
and it was impossible to get through the crowds of people who had
amassed the streets, so we stayed and watched as the final preparations
of the festival took place below us. Perehara is a celebration of
the arrival of Buddhism into Sri Lanka and focuses on the tooth
of Buddha.
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| Temple
of the Tooth, considered the most important temple in Sri Lanka |
There
were 73 elephants used in this years
Perehara, split into five groups, each representing the colours
of the
Buddhist flag. White represents the tooth; yellow, the skin; blue,
the
hair; red the blood; and orange, clothes.
Between each parade of elephants are Kandyan dancers, drummers,
flame throwers and swordsmen. The tooth of Buddha is on the lead
elephant and is kept in a golden casket. This is the most important
part of the parade and people stand as it goes past in a sign of
respect.
From the balcony, you have relative luxury. For the second night
we decided to watch from the street, which was quite a different
experience. Again we sat for four hours waiting for it to start,
but in the meantime we made friends with mixed English and Sinhala
(my lessons have been paying off). When you are sat on the floor
for four hours, this is probably the most fun part because the concrete
floor isn't too easy on your back so you just want it all to be
over by the time it starts. We had a good laugh, though, and amused
the children around us with whistles and trumpets we had bought
the night before. It was great to have this experience whilst I
was out here and it made us actually feel part of Sri Lanka. It
was also the last big group activity we
will take part in before returning to our homes across the world.
I'm growing to love Sri Lanka more and it is sad that soon we will
be saying
goodbye.
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