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SRI LANKA – JANUARY 14: The Maligawa Tusker at the Esala Perahera Festival and the Holy Relic, Kandy, Sri Lanka (Photo by Jason Edwards/National Geographic/Getty Images)
SRI LANKA – JANUARY 14: A decorated Sri Lankan elephant during the Esala Perahera festival, Kandy, Sri Lanka (Photo by Jason Edwards/National Geographic/Getty Images)
SRI LANKA – JANUARY 17: Participants in the Esala Perahera Festival procession, Kandy, Sri Lanka (Photo by Jason Edwards/National Geographic/Getty Images)
SRI LANKA – JANUARY 15: Washing Sri Lankan elephants before the Esala Perahera Festival, Kandy, Sri Lanka (Photo by Jason Edwards/National Geographic/Getty Images)
Kandy, Sri Lanka.
KANDY, SRI LANKA – JULY 27: Sri Lankan dancers wait to perform on opening night of the annual Kandy Esala Perahera festival occuring for the first time since the end of the country’s civil war July 27, 2009 in Kandy, Sri Lanka. Thousands lined the streets to attend the famed festival which honors a tooth of Buddha enshrined at the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic in Kandy. Eight people were killed when the temple was bombed and partially destroyed in a suicide attack by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 1998. Organizers are expecting attendance to nearly double this year at the festival as fears of terror attacks have dwindled following the end of Sri Lanka’s decades-long civil war with the LTTE. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
KANDY, SRI LANKA – JULY 27: Sri Lankan dancers walk on opening night of the annual Kandy Esala Perahera festival occuring for the first time since the end of the country’s civil war July 27, 2009 in Kandy, Sri Lanka. Thousands lined the streets to attend the famed festival which honors a tooth of Buddha enshrined at the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic in Kandy. Eight people were killed when the temple was bombed and partially destroyed in a suicide attack by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 1998. Organizers are expecting attendance to nearly double this year at the festival as fears of terror attacks have dwindled following the end of Sri Lanka’s decades-long civil war with the LTTE. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
KANDY, SRI LANKA – JULY 27: Sri Lankan dancers perform on opening night of the annual Kandy Esala Perahera festival occuring for the first time since the end of the country’s civil war July 27, 2009 in Kandy, Sri Lanka. Thousands lined the streets to attend the famed festival which honors a tooth of Buddha enshrined at the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic in Kandy. Eight people were killed when the temple was bombed and partially destroyed in a suicide attack by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 1998. Organizers are expecting attendance to nearly double this year at the festival as fears of terror attacks have dwindled following the end of Sri Lanka’s decades-long civil war with the LTTE. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
KANDY, SRI LANKA – JULY 27: Sri Lankan dancers wait to perform on opening night of the annual Kandy Esala Perahera festival occuring for the first time since the end of the country’s civil war July 27, 2009 in Kandy, Sri Lanka. Thousands lined the streets to attend the famed festival which honors a tooth of Buddha enshrined at the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic in Kandy. Eight people were killed when the temple was bombed and partially destroyed in a suicide attack by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 1998. Organizers are expecting attendance to nearly double this year at the festival as fears of terror attacks have dwindled following the end of Sri Lanka’s decades-long civil war with the LTTE. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
KANDY, SRI LANKA – JULY 27: Workers prepare an elephant to march on opening night of the annual Kandy Esala Perahera festival occuring for the first time since the end of the country’s civil war July 27, 2009 in Kandy, Sri Lanka. Thousands lined the streets to attend the famed festival which honors a tooth of Buddha enshrined at the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic in Kandy. Eight people were killed when the temple was bombed and partially destroyed in a suicide attack by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 1998. Organizers are expecting attendance to nearly double this year at the festival as fears of terror attacks have dwindled following the end of Sri Lanka’s decades-long civil war with the LTTE. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
KANDY, SRI LANKA – JULY 27: A torch bearer marches on opening night of the annual Kandy Esala Perahera festival occuring for the first time since the end of the country’s civil war July 27, 2009 in Kandy, Sri Lanka. Thousands lined the streets to attend the famed festival which honors a tooth of Buddha enshrined at the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic in Kandy. Eight people were killed when the temple was bombed and partially destroyed in a suicide attack by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 1998. Organizers are expecting attendance to nearly double this year at the festival as fears of terror attacks have dwindled following the end of Sri Lanka’s decades-long civil war with the LTTE. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
An elephant carries a casket containing relics at the annual Nawam Perahera cultural pageant in Colombo February 27, 2010. Some 50 elephants, most of them coming from the central area of Kandy, together with thousands of traditional drummers, dancers, and monks gather to participate in the two-day annual event which was first held in 1979. AFP PHOTO/Lakruwan WANNIARACHCHI. (Photo credit should read LAKRUWAN WANNIARACHCHI/AFP via Getty Images)
SRI LANKA – SEPTEMBER 01: Elephants Of Buddha in Kandy In Sri Lanka In 1991 – Perahera: The Processions Parade The Streets Of Kandy – On September 1st, 1991 In Kandy, Sri Lanka (Photo by Patrick AVENTURIER/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)
Esala Perahera (the festival of the tooth) 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.King Kithsiri Mevan paid homage to the Sacred Relic and these rituals were continued by Kings Jetta Tissa, Buddhaghosa, Upatissa, Mahanama and King Mahinda V (Mihindu) who safeguarded the Relic. This was the first Dalada Perahera ritual which is still followed as the Esala Perahera in July/August in Kandy, the last stronghold of the Kandyan kings.
Sri Lanka, Kandy, Perahera annual festival procession and the Great Elephant Parade.(Photo by: Eye Ubiquitous/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Kandy, Esala Perahera. Procession with decorated elephants in honour of Buddha. – probably in the 1910s (Photo by Haeckel collection/ullstein bild via Getty Images)
Kandy, Esala Perahera. Procession in honour of Buddha. – probably in the 1910s (Photo by Haeckel collection/ullstein bild via Getty Images)
An elephant decorated for the Esala Perahera festival is lead past Sri Lankan Buddhist Temple of the Tooth in the ancient hill capital of Kandy, some 116 km from Colombo on August 17, 2016.
The festival features a night procession of Kandyan dancers, fire twirlers, traditional musicians, acrobatic fire performers and elephants, gathering thousands of tourists and spectators from around the island. / AFP / ISHARA S.KODIKARA (Photo credit should read ISHARA S.KODIKARA/AFP via Getty Images)
An elephant decorated for the Esala Perahera festival is lead past Sri Lankan Buddhist Temple of the Tooth in the ancient hill capital of Kandy, some 116 km from Colombo on August 17, 2016.
The festival features a night procession of Kandyan dancers, fire twirlers, traditional musicians, acrobatic fire performers and elephants, gathering thousands of tourists and spectators from around the island. / AFP / ISHARA S.KODIKARA (Photo credit should read ISHARA S.KODIKARA/AFP via Getty Images)
Sri Lanka’s traditional dancers perform in front of the historic Buddhist Temple of the Tooth, as they take part in a procession during the Esala Perahera festival in the ancient hill capital of Kandy, some 116 km from Colombo on August 17, 2016.
The festival features a night procession of Kandyan dancers, fire twirlers, traditional musicians, acrobatic fire performers and elephants, gathering thousands of tourists and spectators from around the island. / AFP / ISHARA S.KODIKARA (Photo credit should read ISHARA S.KODIKARA/AFP via Getty Images)
Sri Lanka’s traditional dancers perform in front of the historic Buddhist Temple of the Tooth, as they take part in a procession during the Esala Perahera festival in the ancient hill capital of Kandy, some 116 km from Colombo on August 17, 2016.
The festival features a night procession of Kandyan dancers, fire twirlers, traditional musicians, acrobatic fire performers and elephants, gathering thousands of tourists and spectators from around the island. / AFP / ISHARA S.KODIKARA (Photo credit should read ISHARA S.KODIKARA/AFP via Getty Images)
Sri Lanka’s traditional dancers play traditional music and perform in front of the historic Buddhist Temple of the Tooth, as they take part in a procession during the Esala Perahera festival in the ancient hill capital of Kandy, some 116 km from Colombo on August 17, 2016.
The festival features a night procession of Kandyan dancers, fire twirlers, traditional musicians, acrobatic fire performers and elephants, gathering thousands of tourists and spectators from around the island. / AFP / ISHARA S.KODIKARA (Photo credit should read ISHARA S.KODIKARA/AFP via Getty Images)
Sri Lanka’s traditional dancers play traditional music and perform in front of the historic Buddhist Temple of the Tooth, as they take part in a procession during the Esala Perahera festival in the ancient hill capital of Kandy, some 116 km from Colombo on August 17, 2016.
The festival features a night procession of Kandyan dancers, fire twirlers, traditional musicians, acrobatic fire performers and elephants, gathering thousands of tourists and spectators from around the island. / AFP / ISHARA S.KODIKARA (Photo credit should read ISHARA S.KODIKARA/AFP via Getty Images)
A Sri Lanka’s traditional dancer plays traditional music and performs in front of the historic Buddhist Temple of the Tooth, as he takes part in a procession during the Esala Perahera festival in the ancient hill capital of Kandy, some 116 km from Colombo on August 17, 2016.
The festival features a night procession of Kandyan dancers, fire twirlers, traditional musicians, acrobatic fire performers and elephants, gathering thousands of tourists and spectators from around the island. / AFP / ISHARA S.KODIKARA (Photo credit should read ISHARA S.KODIKARA/AFP via Getty Images)
A Sri Lanka’s Hindu devotee dancer performs in front of the historic Buddhist Temple of the Tooth, as he takes part in a procession during the Esala Perahera festival in the ancient hill capital of Kandy, some 116 km from Colombo on August 17, 2016.
The festival features a night procession of Kandyan dancers, fire twirlers, traditional musicians, acrobatic fire performers and elephants, gathering thousands of tourists and spectators from around the island. / AFP / ISHARA S.KODIKARA (Photo credit should read ISHARA S.KODIKARA/AFP via Getty Images)
Some of the elephant and their trainers taking part in the Raja Perahera ceremony to welcome Queen Elizabeth II on her Royal Tour, Kandy, April 19th 1954. (Photo by Central Press/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
140 elephants and their trainers arriving to take part in the Raja Perahera ceremony to welcome Queen Elizabeth II on her Royal Tour, at the Dalada Maligawa in Kandy, April 19th 1954. (Photo by Central Press/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
140 elephants and their trainers arriving to take part in the Raja Perahera ceremony to welcome Queen Elizabeth II on her Royal Tour, at the Dalada Maligawa in Kandy, April 19th 1954. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Taking place every year in late summer, Perahera is a Buddhist procession honoring a tooth said to have been the Buddha’s. Here, male Buddhists march in the procession, followed by extravagantly costumed elephants, one of who may be carrying the tooth itself. (Photo by © Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)
A sacred temple elephant, decorated with embroidered red velvet trappings, carries the tooth of the Buddha from the Temple of the Tooth in Kandy, Ceylon (later Sri Lanka) on April 19th 1954. It is about to take part in the Kandy Esala Perahera, a festival and procession, in the presence of the visiting Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. (Photo by Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Sacred Elephant in the Perahera Procession, Kandy, Ceylon’, c1890, (1910). From The Hundred Best Views of Ceylon. [Plâté Ltd, Colombo, Kandy & Nuwara Eliya, 1910]. Artist Alfred William Amandus Plate. (Photo by Print Collector/Getty Images)
Kandy Perahera. – A Procession of Elephants carried through by the Kandyan Chiefs’, c1890, (1910). From The Hundred Best Views of Ceylon. [Plâté Ltd, Colombo, Kandy & Nuwara Eliya, 1910]. Artist Alfred William Amandus Plate. (Photo by Print Collector/Getty Images)
Kandy. Perahera Prcession Passing’, c1890, (1910). From The Hundred Best Views of Ceylon. [Plâté Ltd, Colombo, Kandy & Nuwara Eliya, 1910]. Artist Alfred William Amandus Plate. (Photo by Print Collector/Getty Images)
Kandy Esala Perahera parade also known as the festival of the Buddha tooth.
A huge number of people participated to watch the "Kandy Esala Perahera". August 11, 2022 Kandy, Sri Lanka. (Photo by Thilina Kaluthotage/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
An elephant carries a golden casket of Lord Buddha’s holy tooth during the annual Buddhist cultural pageant, "Esala Perahera", at the Tooth Temple in Kandy on August 11, 2022. This Buddhist festival features dancing and beautiful elephants dressed in beautiful costumes. The procession is held to invoke the gods for rain. Thousands of people attend the final ten-day pageant in Kandy, the capital of the ancient Central Highlands. (Photo by Pradeep Dambarage/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
The Esala Perahera or ‘Festival of the Tooth’ held annually in Kandy is believed to be a fusion of two separate but interconnected ‘Perahera’ (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. (Photo by: Pictures From History/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Vintage illustration Prince of Wales, later Edward VII, Royal Visit to Ceylon, Public Perahera, Kandy, 1870s, Victorian 19th Century.
TOPSHOT – Decorated elephants walk past the historic Buddhist Temple of the Tooth during a procession celebrating the Esala Perahera festival in the ancient hill capital of Kandy on August 29, 2023. (Photo by Ishara S. KODIKARA / AFP) (Photo by ISHARA S. KODIKARA/AFP via Getty Images)
Three majestic elephants, adorned in vibrant traditional decorations, parade proudly during the annual Esala Perahera at the Temple of the Tooth Relic in Kandy, Sri Lanka, on August 4, 2025. The central elephant carries the golden casket housing Lord Buddha’s sacred tooth relic. (Photo by Krishan Kariyawasam/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Elephants from across Sri Lanka parade through the streets during the Esala Perahera procession in Kandy, Sri Lanka, on August 4, 2025, showcasing cultural traditions and vibrant decorations. (Photo by Krishan Kariyawasam/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
The elephants stay outside the Temple of the Tooth Relic, where they are fed and cared for before the final perahara in Kandy, Sri Lanka, on August 9, 2025. Foreign tourists often gather there to see the elephants up close and capture photos of them. (Photo by Krishan Kariyawasam/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Before the daytime procession of the Esala Perahera, a tusker named ”Kotte Raja” is groomed and dressed in a ceremonial dress in preparation for the final perahara in Kandy, Sri Lanka, on August 9, 2025. (Photo by Krishan Kariyawasam/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
