Devils and Elephants on the Road?

Today is a full moon day. In Sri Lanka, Buddhists celebrate different events of Buddhist culture on each full moon day. Here full moon days are considered government and mercantile holidays. June full moon day we name as "Poson Poya". Buddism originated in India and later transferred to nearby countries. Buddism first came to Sri Lanka on a similar "Poson Full Moon Day" from India. So on this day, we do different things to celebrate the arrival of Buddhism to Sri Lanka.

Today I am going to share one of the traditional events called "Perahara". Perahara is like a Parade that consists of dance, flags, and also Elephants. Perahara events are usually organized to commemorate something. Or there are some Perahara events that are happening continuously for centuries.

Today I got opportunity to visit to see a Perahara in Aluthwala city. Aluthwala perahara is a very famous perahara festival in our area. When we were little, this happened every year, but during the last three years due to the bad condition of the country this event wasn't held. Finally, this year we were lucky to have the Perahara.

This time, there were four elephants and also different dances performed by villagers and school children. The perahara was 45min long.

In a Perahara event, the first performance is usually called as "Flower Bicycles". This is performed by teenagers, who represent the youngest generation of the village. Usually, they build tall flower trees and tie them to their bikes. Then they ride the bicycle along the road where the Perahara moves. This indicates people besides the road about the upcoming perahara.

Normally, after that whip cracker comes. A whip is like a strip that you can move fast against the air and this can make a big sound. It sounds like lightning. In traditional perahara events, this item is to acquire enough space of the road. People move back to avoid the whip and it makes enough space to rest of the events.

Then the other events start with the traditional Kandyan Dance. This dance indicates blessing and also respect. As I said, there were four elephants in the perahara. Elephants were dressed with elegant clothes and joined with the Perahara. The secret relic of Buddha is carried by a giant tuscker called Wasana. There were three other elephants also.

There were plenty of dancing items of the perahara. Among them, my favorite event was the "Kolam/Devil Mask" event. Men are dressed with traditional Kolam and Devil masks. Devils are scary but this event was fun as same.

There was a very big crowd to see the Perahara. Also, a huge number of young people had participated to perform the perahara. You may know that our country is passing a stressful situation right now. These kinds of events give us a refreshment for our minds.

The perahara performed about 45mins in front of us. I also was so tired after watching it. But I am very thrilled after watching.