Senkadagalapura Esala Perahera, the great cultural festival of Sri Lanka, begins today (21) with the first Kumbal Perahera street tour.
The planting of ‘Kapa’ for the procession took place on the last 17th in the four major Devalayas, and since that day, five internal Dewala processions were held.
The ‘Kumbhal’ Perahera will tour the streets for five days from August 21st to 25th. The first Randoli Perahera street tour will take place on the 26th of August. From there, the Randoli procession takes place for five days, i.e. till 30th August. The final Randoli Perahera street tour is on August 30th. After the procession, the sacred tooth relic is placed at the Asgiriya Gedige temple; the next morning, the water-cutting ceremony takes place at Gatambe Diyakapana Gangthota.
Diyawadana Nilame Pradeep Nilanga Dela says that after cutting the water, the four-maha Devala processions will arrive at the Selvavinayagar Hindu temple in Katukele, Kandy and join the afternoon procession on the 31st. The afternoon procession, which includes the sacred tooth relic deposited in Asgiriya Gedige Vihara, will proceed along D.S. Senanayake Street, Kandy, and turn from Raja Weediya to Temple of the Tooth Relic.
Then, the Diyawadana Nilame will hand over the message stating that the procession has been successfully completed to the President that afternoon at the Presidential Palace in Kandy.
