Visit Sri Lanka

Dalada Perahara also known as  Esala Perahera  (the procession of  Esala ) is the grand  festival  with elegant costumes held in July and August in Kandy ,  Sri Lanka . This historical procession ( perahera ) is held annually to pay homage to the  Sacred Tooth Relic  of Lord Buddha , which is housed at the  Sri Dalada Maligawa  in Kandy. A unique symbol of Sri Lanka, the procession consists of many traditional local dances such as fire-dances, whip-dances, Kandyan dances and various other cultural dances, in addition to the elephants who are usually adorned with lavish garments. The festival ends with the traditional  diya-kepeema  ritual, a water cutting ceremony which is held at the  Mahaweli River  at  Getambe , Kandy. History According to tradition, the Tooth Relic was taken in procession to Sri Lanka by Princess Hemamala & Prince Dantha. The Esala is believed to be a fusion of two separate but interconnected " Peraheras " (Processions) – The   Esal

                             officially the   Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka , is an island country near the south-east of   India   in   South Asia . Sri Lanka, known until 1972 as  Ceylon  , has maritime borders with  India  to the northwest and the  Maldives  to the southwest. Sri Lanka has a documented history that spans over 3,000 years, but there are theories to suggest that Sri Lanka had pre-historic human settlements dating back to at least 125,000 years. Its geographic location and deep harbors made it of great strategic importance from the time of the ancient  Silk Road  through to World War II. Sri Lanka is a diverse country, home to many religions, ethnicities and languages. It is the land of the  Sinhalese ,  Sri Lankan Tamils ,  Moors ,  Indian Tamils ,  Burghers ,  Malays ,  Kaffirs  and the aboriginal  Vedda . Sri Lanka has a rich Buddhist heritage, and the first known  Buddhist  writings of Sri Lanka, the  Pāli Canon , dates back to the  Fourth