Esala Perahera (Arrival of the Tooth Relic)

Esala Perahera is a celebration in Kandy, Sri Lanka, that lasts 10 nights and pays homage to the sacred relic believed to be a tooth of the Buddha. Processions are held each night, and the tooth is paraded in an elaborate howdah (platform) on the back of an ornately decorated elephant. Dozens of richly caparisoned elephants follow, and there are also drummers beating big bass drums and small tom-toms, horn blowers, the famous Kandyan dancers, acrobats, and torch bearers holding aloft baskets of blazing copra (coconut meat). Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

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