Kandy is the venue of the Esala Perahera, easily the most colourful pageant of Asia, held in July/August each year, in honour of the tooth Relic. As the pagentry of the Esala Perahera unfolds through ten nights each year, the city takes on the air of a torch-lit dreamland, complete with a hundred or more colourfully caparisoned elephants, drummers, dancers, and chieftains in the rare colourful trappings of the old kingdom.
A pageant of great and aesthetic and socio-cultural value,the Kandy Asala Perahera has been the subject of much scholarly study and intense artistic appreciation. There are several theories and interpretations regarding the origin of the pageant which are really complementary and not exclusive of each other.
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