Sri Lanka is one of God's own places, matching great natural beauty with beautiful manmade creations. Formerly known as Ceylon, Sri Lanka’s relatively small size belies an enormous variety of landscape--from dense jungles, home to shy leopards and wild elephants, to empty golden beaches--from monasteries and temples peopled by saffron-clad monks to cool, misty mountains contoured with tea and dotted with the bright saris of pickers.

intricate carvings and towering stone monuments are scattered throughout the forests. Huge man-made lakes have kept the area irrigated for millennia and continue to provide water for both the paddy fields and thirsty wild elephants that regularly leave the shelter of the jungle to drink. The busy lakeside city of Kandy attracts thousands of devotees to the Temple of the Tooth and it will come alive for the annual Perahera festival for which our tour is coinciding.

The Kandy Esala Perahera (the festival of the tooth) is the grand festival of Esala held in Sri Lanka. It is very grand with elegant costumes. Happening in August in Kandy, it has become a unique symbol of Sri Lanka. It is a Buddhist festival consisting of dances and decorated elephants. There are fire-dances, whip-dances, Kandian dances and various other cultural dances. The elephants are usually adorned with lavish garments.

The Kandy Esala Perahera begins with the Kap Situveema or Kappa; a sanctified young Jack tree (Artocarpus integrifolia) is cut and planted in the premises of each of the four Devales dedicated to the four guardian gods Natha, Vishnu, Katharagama and the goddess Pattini. Traditionally it was meant to shower blessing on the King and the people. The festival ends with the traditional 'diya-kepeema' or the traditional water cutting ceremony.