Kandy Esala Perehera in graphic quilling

Kandy Esala Perahera in graphic quilling, a photo by Anastasia Annie Wahalatantiri on Flickr.

Esala Perahera (the festival of the tooth) is a religious festival held in Sri Lanka and is a very colourful pageant, that takes place in the hill capitol, in July or August. It is a unique symbol of Sri Lanka.  and a Buddhist festival. The colourful pageant consists of dances and decorated elephants with the Majestic tasker(only elephants with tasks are taken) in his full glory, carrying the casket of the sacred tooth relic on his back. The pocession which takes about six or seven hours round the streets of Kandy, takes place daily, starting from the temple around 8pm, for about two weeks before the full moon and ends on the day of full moon.More than 150 elephants and over 500 dancers participate in the procession. There are fire-dances, whip-dances, Kandian dances and various other cultural dances. The elephants are usually adorned with lavish garments. The festival ends with the traditional 'diya-kepeema'.

The Dalada Perahera is believed to have begun when the Sacred Tooth Relic of the Buddha was brought to Sri Lanka from India during the 4th century.

The perahera theme has been done by many artists in paintings. This is my version in quilling




Via Flickr:
http://www.anastasiaw.blogspot.com/