Yala (Ruhuna) National Park

» Yala (Ruhuna) National Park


Situated 309 km. south of Colombo, Yala is approximately 1,259 sq.km. in extent and is located in the southeastern corner of the island. Its northern boundaries border on the Lahugala Elephant Sanctuary and it has the added bonus of a scenic ocean frontage.

The terrain is varied flat plains alternating with rocky outcrops. The vegetation ranges from open parkland to dense jungle. Water holes, small lakes, lagoons and streams provide water for the animals and birds. The specialty here is the large numbers of elephants.


» Life Style of Elephants


Elephant is the star of Sri Lanka’s wild life and the largest land animal in the island. among the two verities of African elephants (elephas coxenda) and Indian elephants (elephas maximize maximize), in Sri Lanka you find Indian elephants and considered to be intelligent than their African counterparts hence domesticated.

Although there have been about 36000 elephants with the start of this century it has reduced up to about 2000 due to pouching. according to the recent records about 2000 of them scattered all over the country in small pockets and about 500 of them are domesticated.

“Pinnawala Elephant orphanage” is dedicated to help these endangered species and has sofa become a success. Also few National parks like “Udawalawe”, “Lahugala” are mainly reserved for wild elephants. Major attraction of Yala national park is wild elephants.

Any given time you can see large number of baby elephants and female elephants. In a herd you always find female elephants and sometimes herds of male elephants too could be seen. in case babies are looked after by mother, aunt or another female elephants and male elephants are loners and never live in a group and are attracted in to a group during the mating season (from September to October) only and most of the parks are closed for visitors during this period.Their average height (height is measured to the shoulder) goes to about 8 feet (2.5m) and 1800 Kg in weight and consume about 200 kg of foliage and grass per day and plenty of water for drinking and bathing.

Female elephants give a birth once in 4 years and 2-3 babies in their life span. get 4 sets of teeth and every 10 years a new set of teeth is coming to get the last set when they are about 40 years old. walk about 20 miles per day and young female elephants are reedy for mating when they are 13 years old. very active in the night and most of them sleep under large trees in the day time. only a few tuskers can be seen in Sri Lanka due to brutal killings to get their tusks due to high value. However new laws has introduced to protect them and let tomorrow's people too see them.

Some people believe that they have grave yards and come near to a water resource when they are about to die…some do not believe it and say ..when they are old their teeth are wasted and difficulty of consuming heavy branches of trees made them come to a place where there is grass and water.

Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage

» Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage


Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage is the home for about 60 elephants, out of which many are baby elephants found, abandoned or orphaned in the wild. They are being cared, fed and trained by the wild life authorities. The best time to visit is during the feeding times, when one will have the opportunity of seeing the baby elephants being bottle-fed. Also could accompany the elephants to a river close-by and see the elephants having their daily bath.

It was started in 1975 by the Department of Wildlife on a twenty five acre coconut property on the Maha Oya river at Rambukkana. The orphanage was primarily designed to afford care and protection to the many baby elephants found in the jungle without their mothers. In most of these cases the mother had either died or been killed. In some instances the baby had fallen into a pit and in others the mother had fallen in and died.

Initially this orphanage was at the Wilpattu National Park, then shifted to the tourist complex at Bentota and then to the Dehiwala Zoo. From the Zoo it was shifted to Pinnawela. At the time it was shifted the orphanage had five baby elephants which formed its nucleus. It was hoped that this facility would attract both local and foreign visitors, the income from which would help to maintain the orphanage.

In 1978 the Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage was taken over by the National Zoological Gardens from the Department of Wildlife and a captive breeding program launched in 1982. At Pinnawela an attempt was made to simulate, in a limited way, the conditions in the wild. Animals are allowed to roam freely during the day and a herd structure allowed to form.

The Department of National Zoological Gardens has set up an orphanage for baby elephants at Pinnawela which is about 13 Km. from Kegalle Town. on the Kegalle- Rambukkana Road.

Kegalle is 77 Km. from Colombo on the Colombo- Kandy road and the turn off to the orphanage is at the Karandupona Junction.

The orphanage was established to feed, nurse and house young elephants found abandoned by their mothers. Often the young ones fall into pits and ravines in their quest for water during drought period. Other inmates at the orphanage are those displaced from their natural environs by development projects or those found diseased or wounded.

The orphanage is 16 years old. The animals that were brought during the initial years are now capable of breeding and have in fact bred.

JAFFNA

» Jaffna Beach


District: Jaffna
Typical Weather: Warm & Sunny
Dist. from Colombo: 398 km

Situated in the northern most tip of Sri Lanka, Jaffna is both a sea port as well as an important city. The rich ancient culture of Jaffna is very interesting and the remnants of the buildings of the Hindu period or of the colonial period speaks of the living history of Jaffina.

Among the notable Jaffina attractions mention may be made of the old Dutch forts, the tidal well, the Keerimalai Baths, Chundikulam Sanctuary and the Hindu temples. Apart from the ancient monumental structures, Jaffna also some spectacular beaches. These beaches draw the maximum number of tourists and they too love top busk in sunlight in the wonderful sandy beaches of Jaffna. However, of all the beaches in the city,Casuarina Beach is at Karainagar and there are good beaches as well at Santhakulam and Thondaimannar. The Tourism Board of Sri Lanka are of great help in planning tours to Jaffna.

The Randoli Perahera

» The Randoli Perahera


The Randoli Perahera begins after five nights of the Kumbal Perahera. Randoli refers to palanquins on which the Queens of the ruling Kings traditionally traveled.


» Diya Kepeema and the Day Perahera


After a further five nights of the Randoli Perahera, the pageant ends with the Diya Kepeema, which is the water cutting ceremony at the Mahaweli River at Getambe, a town a few miles from Kandy. A Day Perahera is held to mark the ceremony.

The Kumbal Perahera

» The Kumbal Perahera


For the next five nights, the "Devale Peraheras" take place within the premises of the four Devales with the priest of each Devale taking the pole every evening, accompanied by music and drumming, flag and canopy bearers, spearman and the Ran Ayudha, the sacred insignia of the Gods.

On the sixth night, the Kumbal Perahera begins and continues on for five days. Initially, the Devale Peraheras assemble in front of the Sri Dalada Maligawa (or Temple of the Tooth, which is Sri Lanka's most important Buddhist Shrine and where the Buddha’s Sacred Tooth Relic has been kept since the 16th Century) with their insignias placed on the ransivige (a dome-like structure) accompanied by the Basnayake Nilames (the lay custodians of the Devales).

The relic casket, which is a substitute for the Tooth Relic, is placed inside the ransivige affixed to the Maligawa Elephant, a tusker.

At about 8pm, the Maligawa Perahera joins the awaiting Devale Peraheras and leads the procession. Whip-crackers and fireball acrobats clear the path, followed by the Buddhist flag bearers. Then, riding on the first elephant, is the official called Peramuna Rala (Front Official). He is followed by Kandyan Drummers and Dancers who enthrall the crowd, and are themselves followed by elephants and other groups of musicians, dancers and flag bearers. A group of singers dressed in white heralds the arrival of the Maligawa Tusker carrying the Sacred Tooth Relic. The Diyawadana Nilame (traditionally required to do everything in his power to ensure rain in the correct season) walks in traditional Kandyan-clothed splendor after the tusker.

The second procession is from the Natha Devale, which faces the Sri Dalada Maligawa and is said to be the oldest building in Kandy, dating back to the 14th Century.

The third is from the Vishnu Devale (Vishnu being a Hindu god), also known as the Maha Devale. It is situated in from of the main gate of the Natha Devale.

The fourth procession is from the Katharagama Devale (dedicated to the God of Katharagama, identified with the warrior god Skanda) which is on Kottugodalle Vidiya (a street in Kandy). This procession includes Kavadi, the peacock dance, in which the pilgrim-dances carry semicircular wooden contraptions studded with peacock feathers on their shoulders.

The fifth and final procession is from the Pattini Devale (Pattini being a goddess associated with the cure of infectious diseases and called upon in times of drought and famine), which is situated to the West of the Natha Devale. This is the only procession that has women dances.

The following important times are announced by the firing of cannonballs, which can be heard all across Kandy.
1. The commencement of the Devale Peraheras
2. The placing of the casket on the tuskers back
3. The commencement of the Dalada Perahera
4. The completion of the Perahera

Modern Perahera

» Modern Perahera


The Modern Perahera dates back to the reign of the Kandyan King Kirthi Sri Rajasinghe (1747 – 1781 AD). During these times, the Tooth Relic was considered private property of the King and the public never got a chance to worship it.

However, King Rajasinghe decreed that the Relic be taken in procession for the masses to see and venerate.

After the Kandyan Kingdom fell to the British in 1815, the custody of the Relic was handed over to the Maha Sanga (the Buddhist Clergy). In the absence of the king, a lay custodian called the "Diyawadana Nilame" was appointed to handle routine administrative matters.

The Procession
The Kandy Esala Perahera begins with the Kap Situveema or Kappa, in which a sanctified young Jack tree (Artocarpus integrifolia) is cut and planted in the premises of each of the four Devales dedicated to the four guardian gods Natha, Vishnu, Katharagama and the goddess Pattini. Traditionally it was meant to shower blessing on the King and the people.

History

History
The Esala Perahera in Kandy is believed to be a fusion of two separate but interconnected "Peraheras" (Processions) – The Esala and Dalada. The Esala Perahera which is thought to date back to the 3rd century BC, was a ritual enacted to request the gods for rainfall. The Dalada Perahera is believed to have begun when the Sacred Tooth Relic of the Buddha was brought to Sri Lanka from India during the 4th Century AD.

The Order of the Perahera

The main Perahera procession consists of five separate Peraheras:

- The Dalada Maligawa Perahera

- The Natha Dewala Perahera

- The Maha Vishnu Dewala Perahera

- The Katharagama Dewale Perahera

- The Pattini Dewale Perahera

This order of precedence is maintained throughout

The Maligawa Perahera is comprised as follows:

- The Whip Crackers-They lead the way and announce the approach of the Perahera by cracking their whips.There is quite an art in this,and it is not as easy as the onlooker may imagine.

- In the times of the Sinhalese Kings the Adigars (within their own territories) were entitled to have whip-crackers hearld their approach,and this practice was continued even in early British times.

- The whip crackers come into picture only at the commencement of the Randoli Perahera.They do not take part in the Kumbal Perahera.

- They did not form a part of the traditional Perahera but were added to it in the time of Dissawe P.B.Nugawela Diyawadana Nilame.

- The Flag Bearers walk next in single file on either side of the road. The flags they carry are the standards of the different Provinces and the Temples.

- The Peramunerala – This official rides on the first elephant. In olden times he carried the mandate from the King giving permission to hold the Perahera.The mandate had,in the present day, been replaced by an ola manuscript called the Lekam Mitiya,which is a register of the Maligawa lands as well as the tenants and the services due by them (Fa Hies also refers to an official who proclaimed the Perahera).
Next come the Drummers playing Hevisi or martial music on a variety of drums such-as Dawulas , Tammettams and Beres and bloeing Horanawes (flutes). The rhythem, combined with the measured movements of the drummers, vivifies the whole procession.

- The Gajanayaka Nilame comes next. He rides an elephant and carries a silver goad (ankusa)which is the symbol of his authority.

- In the time of the Singhalese Kings the Gajanayaka Nilame was a very high official-the head of the King’s Elephant Stables – and(except for royalty)He alone had the privilege of riding an elephant within the four Gravets of Kandy.He is follow by in numbers from time to time.

- The Kariyakorale, who is next to the Diyawadana Nilame in order of Precedence and is responsible for all the ceremonies connected and is responsible for all the ceremonies connected with the Maligawa, walks next in the Perahera. He is attended by minor temple functionaries, drummers and dancers.

- Now comes the highlight of the procession – the MALIGAWE TUSKER carrying the Perahera Karanduwa (golden casket) containing the Sacred Relics. (The Sacred Tooth Relic is not now taken in procession-see p. 3). A canopy is held over the Tusker, and pavada.(white cloth) is spread in its path (as a mark of respect) for it to walk on.

- Those who have the privilege of going up to the Octagon and watching the formation of the Perahera from there still get chance of seeing the Diyawadana Nilame come into the countryard of the temple accompanied by drummers and dancers walking on pavada and carrying aloft the golden casket.

- He stands on a dias and places the casket reverently in the ranhilige (howdah) on the back of the Tusker. The animal then gose down the steps into the street and is hailed by cries of "Sudhu."It is amazing to watch the Tusker coming down the steps. He does it with such care, one almost feel he realizes the solemnity of the occasion and the reverence sttached it.

- Incidentally, in the days of the Sinhalese Kings the King himself with the Diyawadana Nilamein attendance carried the sacred casket from the Maligawa and placed it on the back of the Tusker.

- I might here mention that spectators- Buddhist and non-Buddhist alike-are expected to stand, as a mark of respect, when Perahera Karanduwa or golden casket passes them.

- The Tusker is followed by two lines of dancers facing each other on either on either side of road with the drummers in the center, and at the end of retinue walks the Diyawadana Nilame in all the Oriental splendour. He is attended by lance (murawadu) bearers, wadana tal-athu sunshade bearers and umbrella-bearer as well as minor temple headmen.


The natha dewala perahera follows the Maligawa Perahera of witch it is a smaller edition. The howdah on the chief elephant’s back contains the apparel and insignia (Ran Ayudhaya) of the Deity of the Dewla. The head of the Dewale is the Basnayake Nilame. He walks in the Perahera with his retinue of dancers, and it is customary for him to be accompanied by the Basnayake Nilames of Dodanwela, Vegiriya nd Pasgama. These three Dewales are outside the Four Gravets of Kandy and are placed in the category of Pitisara ("outside") Dewales.

The Natha Dewala is given precedence over the other Dewales because, according to tradition, the Deity of this Dewala is the Buddha-to-come.

The maha vishnu dewalae perahera comes next. The Basnayake Nilame walks in the procession. He has the usual retinue of dancers and attendants, and it is customary for him to be accompanied by the Basnayake Nilames of the Pitisara Dewales of Lankathilaka, Gadaladiniya , Alawatugoda, Hanguranketha, Morape and Mediri.

The traditional history of the Maha Vishnu Dewale is that chief of the gods (Sakra Devendrayo) entrusted the protection of Buddhism in Ceylon to the Deity of this Dewala.

It is also the accepted tradition that Sakra is in the line of succession (next to the Deity of the Natha Dewale) for Buddhahood.

The katharagama dewala perahera follows. Katharagama is supposed to be the General of Sakra and is believed to be all-powerful in war. His assistance was invoked by the kings before battle.

(This Dewale should not be confused with the Maha Katharagama Dewale in Uva.)

The Basnayake Nilame of the Dewale walks in the procession, and it is customary for him to be accompanied by the Basnayake Nulames of the Pitisara Dewales of Embekke and Ganegoda.

The pattini dewale perahera, coming last of all, headed by the Basnayake Nilame, is accompanied by the Basnayake of the Embekke Dewale. Pattni is agoddess who is supposed to exerices control over diseases such as snmall-pox, chicken-pox and measles, and the inclusion of her Dewale in the Perahera is to placate her.

The long procession ends with the Randolis borne by the tenants of the Dalada Maligawa. The Diyawadana Nilame may, if he so desires, invite the Adgars and Dissawes to walk with him in the Perahera. (This is usually done in a raja-Perahera – see Chapter IV.) Further, if for any reason he is unable to officiate in the procession, he may ask one the Basnayake Nilames to take his place.

The choice of acception or refusing the honour is given to the Basnayaker Nilames in the order of precedence of their Dewales, viz., the Natha Dewale, Maha Vishnu Dewale, the Katharagama Dewale and the Pattini Dewale.

Incidentally, the best time to see Esala Perahera is on the last two nights; partically anywhere along the route gives a good view of the procession under way.