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One of the most fascinating island countries of the world, Sri Lanka has a full
year long calendar of religious and social events. Sri Lanka Festival & Events
are held in different seasons but the most noticeable feature of these festivals
is that nearly all major festivals take place or are celebrated on full moon days.
Full Moon days are especially significant for this Buddhist country, each full
moon or poya day is a Buddhist holiday. Most shops keep their shutters down and
the public places of entertainment too mainly remain closed. Red meat or alcohol
is not sold in most places and in hotels too alcohol is hard to get.
Some of Sri Lanka Festival & Events are really brilliant. Esala Festival
is held usually in July and/or August in Kandy. It extends over 10 days and
climaxes on Nikini full moon. Great processions are taken out with bedecked
elephants, fire walkers, Kandyan dancers, spinning plates, all to honor the
Sacred Tooth Relic of Kandy. During the final three days, the best parades are
taken out. Crowds throng the parade routes and for a tourist the experience
can result in a kaleidoscope of different rituals, customs and colors.
In January, Duruthu Perahera is celebrated on Poya day. The festival has a
religious connotation, in fact, it is a religious festival as it celebrates
Buddha's first visit to Sri Lanka. The center of activity is Colombo and there
one can get a glimpse of all the festivities from the Colombo House. Dalada
Perahera is held on fourth December each year in Bentota in the sacred memory
of the Arapant Maha Kaypa whose Tooth relic is enshrined at the Galapatha Rajamaha
Temple. A huge parade is held in the Esala style but just for a night. Other
celebrations like Deepavali, Buddhist New Year, Christmas, New Year are celebrated
with gusto and the whole island breaks in to a riot of colors and festivity
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