Kandijs Perahera

Today we arrived in Kandy. Kandy is a big city located in the middle of Sri Lanka. The city lies in the middle of the mountains and is surrounded by tea plantations and rainforests. In the center of Kandy lies a lake called Kandy Lake or Bogambara Lake. Here you can marvel at flying foxes, especially at dusk. During the day you can discover turtles and a large variety of birds at the lake.

Kandy is best known for the temple that houses a tooth of Buddha (Sri Dalada Maligawa). A spectacular festival is held once a year in honor of the tooth.

"Esala Perahera (The Festival of the Tooth of Lord Buddha) is the great festival of the month of August in Sri Lanka. It is very magnificent with elegant costumes. It takes place in [...] August in Kandy and has become a unique symbol of Sri Lanka. It is a Buddhist festival with dances and elephants beautifully adorned. There are fire dances, whip dances, Kandian dances and various other cultural dances. The elephants are usually adorned with rich robes." (https://www.kandyperaherabookings.com/about-kandy-perahera.html).

Opinions about Kandy vary widely. We met people who advised us not to visit the city because it was noisy, chaotic and not beautiful. Others have recommended a visit to Kandy. Due to the fact that the celebration described above is currently taking place, we decided to visit Kandy.

Today we watched a parade. Countless people have gathered downtown to be able to take part in this spectacle. There were strict security checks and the police, military, paramedics and doctors were everywhere. There was a lot of pushing and shoving along the roadside - everyone wanted a good view of the parade. Despite the thousands of spectators, we were lucky and had a good seat from which we could see the parade. We did not get hold of this good place ourselves. In front of us was a local man who made sure we could see well. For example, he told the youth who was standing in front of us and filming to take down his mobile phone so that we could see clearly. When at some point he himself was pushed out of his place, we brought him back to us. We told him that he can stand in front of us. Due to our height, we had the incredibly great advantage of being able to see over the whole head. At first the man didn't want to accept our offer. He hesitated and explained that he had been seeing this parade every year for fifty years. For us, on the other hand, it's a unique opportunity and that's why it's important to him that we can see well. The warmth and care of this stranger touched us very much. He was so caring not only to us but to all tourists who were near him.

The parade lasted about two hours and was filled with whip dances, dance and music groups and fire dances, among other things. Many elephants were also part of the parade. These are beautifully decorated and illuminated.

We personally found the atmosphere during the parade to be very dignified. The spectators didn't talk much to each other and weren't loud either. People watched the spectacle and seemed happy.

It was a magical evening and we are very grateful to the local for his efforts, care and warmth!