Kandy Perahera

Commences on Esala Full Moon Poya Day on the month of July and Concludes on Nikini Full Moon Poya Day on the month of August.

Esala Perahera is the grand festival of Esala held in Sri Lanka. It is very grand with elegant costumes. Happening in July or August in Kandy, it has become a unique symbol of Sri Lanka. It is a Buddhist festival consisting of dances and richly-decorated elephants. There are fire-dances, whip-dances, Kandian dances and various other cultural dances. The elephants are usually adorned with lavish garments. The festival ends with the traditional 'diya-kepeema'.

The significance of this great event is to invoke blessings of the gods to give the farmers rain to cultivate their crops. This ritual is performed by carrying the sacred tooth relic of the Buddha through the city streets which is done with great ceremony.

The tooth relic was brought to Ceylon (Sri Lanka) in the year 310 AD and the first perehera was performed in Anuradhapura the first capital where the sacred relic was housed. Even as the capitals were shifted for security reasons due to invasions, the tooth relic went with it too and was much revered and always in the custody of the king. Finally finding a permanent resting place in the hill capital of the last Sinhalese kindom Kandy, It lies in the “Dalada Maligawa” (Palace of the Tooth Relic) which was built by king Wimaladharma suriya in the 16th century. This three-storey building erected solely for the purpose of housing. The Sacred Relic still stands and is the most visited and important temple of Sri Lanka.

The ritual of the Perahera (Esela Perahera) continues in Kandy with more and more people attending each year to watch majestic tusker proudly parade the streets of the ancient Sinhalese kingdom followed by over more than a hundred elephants with the custodians and other officials dressed in the traditional Sinhalese attire of chieftains riding them. The sound of blowing conch shells and whip cracking starts off the excitement or the approaching perahera. The beating of at least three types of traditional drums, the Kandyan dancers, Acrobats, and other artists that perform in the light of flame torches certainly would take you back in a time machine.

Tea Country

» Tea Country


Sri Lanka is one of the world's largest exporters of tea. Since the introduction of tea to Sri Lanka in mid 19the century Nuwara Eliya has been the capital of the tea industry. For many miles prior to reaching Nuwara Eliya from either direction you will find acres and acres of tea plantations, infact nothing but tea estates. There are many factories open for visitor's which also have tea sales outlets.


» Tea Factory



An old tea factory turned into a fine hotel is about 30-45 minutes away at Kandapola. Managed by one of the largest hotel chains it offers good food and excellent accommodation.


» Nuwara Eliya Golf Club


Walking distance from the town center, built in 1891 the club offers 18 hole course for a green fee of about Rs 1500. Could rent clubs, shoes and buy old balls.

Nuwara Eliya

Situated at around 2000m above sea level and surrounded by lush tea plantations Nuwara Eliya is the main hill resort of Sri Lanka and the heart of the tea industry. Once a pleasure retreat of the European planters the town is still very much an English town with many English style bungalows and buildings. Nuwara Eliya is a good escape for those who miss cool breeze in tropical Sri Lanka at any time of the year. Local tourists flock to this town in their 'season' from March to May when it is the hottest duration for the town, April being the busiest.

Nuwara Eliya offers many activities for tourists including visits to tea plantations golfing, horse riding, boating, hiking and of course exploring the beauty of the landscaped gardens, waterfalls and plateaus.

History
The town was founded by Samuel Baker as a hill retreat for the British during the colonial era, where typical English pastimes including fox hunting, polo and cricket were played.



Although the town was founded in the 19th century by Englishmen, the site was frequently visited by native Sinhalese travellers. It has also been an area of pre-historic human beings as recent archaeological findings confirm.

Many of the buildings retain features from the colonial period, and even new hotels are often built and furnished in the colonial style. The Hill Club is one of the best preserved hotels, and charges admission for non-residents who wish to wallow in its nostalgia. Many private homes still maintain their old English-style lawns and gardens.

Climate
Due to the high altitude, Nuwara Eliya has a much cooler climate than the lowlands of Sri Lanka, with a mean annual temperature of 16 °C. In the winter months it is quite cold at night, and there can even be frost. although it rapidly warms up as the tropical sun climbs higher during the day.

Festivals
The town really comes alive in April for the Sinhalese and Tamil New Year, and it is difficult to find accommodation as Sri Lankans holiday in the region during this period. The festive season starts on April 1st annually in a ceremonial manner. The ceremony consists mainly of a band show in which all the local school bands participate.

Main attractions during April season include the numerous motor racing and horse racing events. Motor racing comes alive with the Mahagastotte and Radella Hill Climbs, the former being run since 1934. The Nuwara Eliya Road Race and the 4X4 Lake Cross on edge of Lake Gregory attract a fair share of enthusiasts. Parties are held nightly in the hotels, and the season culminates in the nine furlong (1811 m) Governor's Cup, and the flower show at the end of the month.

Unawatuna Bay

» Unawatuna Bay


Unawatuna bay provides safe swimming and snorkeling, protected as it is by a reef. Rhumassala Kanda is associated with the legend of the traditional Ramayana story. When the warrior Lakshman was wounded, a Himalayan herb was required for his cure and Rama despatched the Monkey-god Hanuman to fetch it. But Hanuman forgot the name of the herb, so to be on the safe side he tore off a hunk of the Himalayas, carried it on his back and dumped it, where it now ties! Galle is the sort of place from which one must take away a souvenir.

The visitor may make a pick of Galle lace, handmade, like the Brussels or the Honiton types. The shops of jewellers would entice the female of the species! Where but in Galle many visitors plunge their hands into a bucketful of limpid moonstones or the more precious and rarer of gems, the blue sapphire or the ruby! These can be beautifully set according to the whim or wish of the buyer.

Buddhist Island

» Buddhist Island


The drive to BADDEGAMA is a delightful experience and leads out to the fine church consecrated in 1825, by Bishop Heber - Bishop of Calcutta. The church today is decorated in a purely indigenous style and at mass the Ceylon Liturgy is said in Sinhalese, sung to Sinhalese music. The fine pillars of the nave, each a single piece of ironwood timber, should be noted and the view from the tower is worth the climb.

Drive back through DODANDUWA, visiting, if permission can be arranged, the Buddhist island hermitage in the Ratgama Lake, a retreat of infinite peace and beauty. Other drives worth taking from Galle are to the excellent seabathing spot at Watering Point where a rill of fresh water, once used by mariners, runs down to the beach. There is a magnificent view of Galle, of its bays and inlets, seen from the summit of this drive.

Splendid Mansions

» Splendid Mansions


In contrast to the Portuguese and Dutch there are many British relics found in the town. Until the artificial harbour was built round the Colombo roadstead in the 1870's, Galle was Ceylon's chief port of call, and many were the hotels at this time. Today only two have survived, the New Oriental Hotel in the Fort and Closenburg overlooking the harbour.

In 1873 a second entrance to the Fort, now used more as the Main Gate, was opened between the Moon and Sun Bastions. Gibbet is the name given to one of the small islands across the bay and is today a part of the fisheries harbour, the dry docks and an inlet, where sailing yachts berth.

Nothing bespeaks the town's prosperity in British times as the splendid mansions - with the names Closenburg, Eddystone, Barthfield, Armitage Hilt or Nooit-Gedacht- a few of which, though wrought with time's changes, still exist. The best preserved is Closenburg, the gracious and spacious bungalow built by the agent of the British shipping company, P & O: its roof trusses still display the P & O sunburst. Armitage Hill bungalow occupied a site rustically lovely out of Galle town.

Antiquities of Galle

» Antiquities of Galle


The Dutch Commandeur's residence or Government House, Queen's House in the British era, can be seen down the street opposite the Dutch Church which leads to the old gate. Over the doorway of this residence is a large stone slab on which is the date 1683, and the figure of a cock inscribed.

Another of the antiquities of Galle, is the old main gate to the Fort. The visitor should pause to study two stonelets into the walls over the entrance and exit of this gateway, which tells the story of the conquests of the old city. The lion and unicorn of the British coat-of-arms is found over the outside arch and on the inside is a monogram of the Dutch East India Company, a shield with the initials VO.C. chiselled upon it and two lions supporting the crest: the date is 1669.

On either side of this gateway are further legacies of Dutch trade in the East, old warehouses, called pakhuis. A powder magazine at Point Utrecht Bastion, bears the inscription: "A A.J. Galle den 1st Zeber (September), 1787."

Galle was handed over to the British in terms of a treaty signed in Colombo in February 1796. The preservation of the Fort and the old town was maintained and continues to be of Government concern to the present day.