Colombo → Sigiriya → Kandy → Ella
Example · Sigiriya, Kandy and Ella — 7 Days with a Local Guide
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Researched by Sarisara, with sources.
The Duruthu Perahera is held every January at Kelaniya Raja Maha Vihara, a temple on the banks of the Kelani River about 11 kilometres north-east of Colombo. Buddhist tradition holds that the Buddha visited Kelaniya in 580 BC, on his third and final visit to Sri Lanka, travelling with 500 enlightened followers to preach at a spot where a gem-studded throne had been enshrined. The temple that stands there today grew up around that story, and the Duruthu Perahera is the temple’s way of marking it each year on the Duruthu full moon (Poya) day in January — the first full-moon festival of the Buddhist calendar year.
Like other Sri Lankan Buddhist peraheras, the festival takes the form of a night procession: drummers, dancers, flag bearers and decorated elephants move through the temple grounds and surrounding streets, carrying the occasion’s ceremonial items. Crowds gather along the route and in the temple grounds to watch.
Because it falls in January, the Duruthu Perahera is often described as the year’s opening procession festival, ahead of February’s Navam Perahera in Colombo and the much larger Kandy Esala Perahera in July-August.
January Buddhist
Held each year on the Duruthu full moon (Poya) day in January; the exact date changes every year with the lunar calendar
The exact dates follow the moon and are confirmed each year closer to the time.
Any seat or stand fees are paid locally and are not included in Sarisara prices.
Seat prices, where seats are sold, are not confirmed.
Not confirmed by this research.
This is a Buddhist temple procession, so dress modestly, as you would for any temple visit in Sri Lanka.
Not dressed right? Not confirmed by this research.
Dates move every year with the lunar calendar.
Kelaniya Raja Maha Vihara Official website
Kelaniya Raja Maha Vihara, Kelaniya, Sri Lanka
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Fire dancers light the road before the elephants of the Esala Perahera.
