So I said I came to Kandy to see the Esala Perahera display. The processions last for 10 days, with the greatest one on the 10th day. Although I was in Kandy for 5 days, I didn't bother with the earlier processions...it just seemed like too much of a hassle with people pooling on the streets around midday for a procession that would begin around 8 pm. But dammit, I was going to see the LAST day.
The problem is that you have to pay upwards of $40 to get a good seat. Being a wage-earner in a Least Developed Country, that pretty much puts it out of my daily budget. I stuck a 2000-rupee note in my pocket (which is like $15) and negotiated.
After hours of intense negotiations, I found a seat. Not an ideal seat, because of the bars that block the lower-half of the procession, but a seat along the front rows of the procession. It was better than standing on someone's rooftop and straining to see over the edge of the gables at the tops of elephant heads ten floors below, anyway.
First of all, people come by breakdancing with fire.
It's possibly the coolest part of the procession.
Breakdancing with fire wheels.
And throwing it in the air.
I rest my case.
The best seats in the house!
There are about 90 elephants in the procession.
This is one of them.
Some are big ones, and some are lil babies.
Another elephant!
More elephants!!
The crowd looks on.
(Incidentally, this is why it was so hard to get places during the day).
This is the moment the whole crowd was waiting for.
The elephant is carrying something that may be the Buddha's tooth.
(Worth noting that the tooth is kept in a box in a temple during the day, and no one's allowed to see it.)
Everyone stood up when these elephants came past, to pay respects.
After that, the brainwaves scattered and minds wandered.
No one spoke, but you could feel the tensions had broken.
The rest of the procession was much the same as the first half.
More elephants!
You can't see clearly from this photo, but these are peacock dancers, and possibly the only female dancers in the parade.
Anyway, the procession lasted about 3 hours. I didn't bother to hang around till the last dancers by, since everyone else was slipping away, and I wasn't eager to get stuck in the mass exodus.
Esala Perahera is an ancient custom, so it was a real privilege to be able to witness it as a foreigner, even if I had to pay for it. Eh, the price was right. Here's Wikipedia in case you're interested in the nitty-gritty:
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