Duruthu Perahera Festival
Sri Lanka - Colombo - Negombo - Dambulla - Kandy
Festivals and events have a special place in the Buddhist calendar. Throughout the year, special days are earmarked to celebrate the birthdays of Bodhisattvas in the Mahayana tradition or other important dates in the Buddhist calendar. Full moon days are specially significant to the followers of Buddhism and the most significant celebration happens every May on the night of the full moon, when Buddhists all over the world celebrate the birth, enlightenment and death of Lord Buddha who passes away thousands of centuries ago. This day is known as Buddha Day. Duruthu Perahera Festival is one of the very significant festivals in Sri Lanka. Needless to say, it is a Buddhist festival.
All Buddhist festivals are full of joy, but they are solemn too. On any festival day practicing Buddhists go the local Buddha temple or monastery. Food is offered to the monks and Five Precepts are taken and the devotees listen to Dharma talk. Buddha’s teachings take over for the day and people adhere to them as much as possible. But when the teachings are so important, it is obvious that the Teacher must be respected and honored. To honor Him, the Duruthu Perahera Festival is celebrated. This festival started from 1927 AD and celebrates the Buddha's first visit to Sri Lanka more than 2500 years ago. It attracts thousands of people to Kelaniya. The Duruthu Perahera Festival is held on a full moon day. In commemoration of this visit a procession is held for three nights in the month of January at Kelaniya which is ten kilometers from Colombo. It is a very colorful festival to say the least. Decorated elephants, performing dancers and drummers, as well as the whip crackers attract thousands of viewers. There is always a generous sprinkling of foreign tourists amongst the crowd, it is not surprising to find people from other countries being wide eyed with wonder to witness this colorful festival.
All Buddhist festivals are full of joy, but they are solemn too. On any festival day practicing Buddhists go the local Buddha temple or monastery. Food is offered to the monks and Five Precepts are taken and the devotees listen to Dharma talk. Buddha’s teachings take over for the day and people adhere to them as much as possible. But when the teachings are so important, it is obvious that the Teacher must be respected and honored. To honor Him, the Duruthu Perahera Festival is celebrated. This festival started from 1927 AD and celebrates the Buddha's first visit to Sri Lanka more than 2500 years ago. It attracts thousands of people to Kelaniya. The Duruthu Perahera Festival is held on a full moon day. In commemoration of this visit a procession is held for three nights in the month of January at Kelaniya which is ten kilometers from Colombo. It is a very colorful festival to say the least. Decorated elephants, performing dancers and drummers, as well as the whip crackers attract thousands of viewers. There is always a generous sprinkling of foreign tourists amongst the crowd, it is not surprising to find people from other countries being wide eyed with wonder to witness this colorful festival.
