Colombo → Sigiriya → Kandy → Ella
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Researched by Sarisara, with sources.
The Navam Perahera is an annual procession held at Gangaramaya Temple in Colombo, one of the city’s best-known Buddhist temples, close to Beira Lake. It takes place in February, timed to the Navam full moon (Poya) day, which Buddhist tradition marks as the occasion the Buddha first set out a code of ethical precepts for monks.
As with other Sri Lankan Buddhist peraheras, the festival is a night procession through the temple grounds and nearby streets, drawing crowds from across Colombo. Because Gangaramaya sits in the heart of the city, the Navam Perahera is one of the more accessible processions for visitors who are based in Colombo and cannot travel to Kandy or Kelaniya.
It falls between January’s Duruthu Perahera at Kelaniya and the much larger Kandy Esala Perahera in July-August, making it part of the same yearly cycle of temple processions, each tied to its own full-moon date and its own story from the life of the Buddha.
February Buddhist
Held on the Navam full moon (Poya) day in February; 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.
Gangaramaya Temple Official website
Gangaramaya Temple, 61 Sri Jinarathana Road, Colombo 00200, Sri Lanka
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Fire dancers light the road before the elephants of the Esala Perahera.
