Sri Lanka, Kandy: Esala Mangallaya, The Celebration of The Buddha Tooth

The hot August night, full of the mixture of smells of spices, sweets and garbage, is quickly covering the ancient city of Kandy. The streets are overcrowded with people: they stay, sit and lie - on the streets, lamps,  rubbish bins, on top of each other, on the roofs of the ramshackle houses. Sometimes the roofs fall under the weight of the people. We are also sitting on the chairs placed on the roof at our own risk, and looking forward to what will happen next.

Suddenly the subtropical night, illuminated only by the light of the Full Moon, is starting to bloom with the thousands of lights of the ancient witchery. Fire-dancers are coming in the beginning of the procession, accompanied by the sounds of drums, flutes and own songs. The intricate pirouettes of the fiery drawing have not changed a lot over the past 400 years, and it becomes hard to believe that we are still in the XXI century.

But the real magic starts when out of the darkness slowly arise the huge live beings, glowing as moving Christmas decorations. It is the beginning of the procession of 160 elephants decorated with gold and silver on their tusks, colourful blankets on their backs and jewellery and lanterns hanging from their bodies.

The culmination of the procession is the emergence of the Raja Elephant, the oldest and widest elephant-monk from the Temple Dalada Maligawa in Kandy, which carry the Tooth of Gautama Buddha, one of Buddhism's most sacred relics.

Esala Mangallaya Celebration is really worth to see at least ones in life. There are not many places in the world where you can observe a 400-year-old traditional ceremony, totally authentic, that has not changed much in all that time!

How to get to Esala Mangallaya in Kandy:

Kandy is quite a big city by Sri Lankan standards. It is reachable by car, being 137 km east of Colombo. You'd better take the A1 road, which is not as straight as the A21 but is of better quality.
Alternately, you can organise your trip with a tour operator.
The procession starts from the Dalada Maligawa Temple.

Where to stay to see the Esala Mangallaya in Kandy: 

There are quite a lot of hotels in Kandy, but if you wish to go to Esala Mangallaya during your visit, you should make a reservation beforehand. Also, be sure that you have correct GPS coordinates: we found that Randeepa Hotel, which we had booked with the understanding that it was in the centre of Kandy, was in fact 35 km outside the city. As a result, we had to cancel our stay and find something in town.

When to go to Esala Mangallaya in Kandy: 

The primary day of the celebration falls on the full moon at the end of July or the beginning of August. Since every year is different, you should check the proper date on the Temple's website.

Climate and weather in Kandy: 

Kandy is a bit cooler than other places in Sri Lanka: the average daily temperature is about 25°C. The dry season lasts from December through to April; from May to July and from the weather is quite unstable. 

Travel Tips:

To say that the streets are overcrowded during the ceremony is to say nothing. Onlookers occupy sitting and standing places along the road beginning in the early morning. After sunset, the streets are overseen by the police, who make frustrated attempts to establish order or at least prevent anyone from being trampled.

The best way to see the parade is either to come to a couple of days early and book a room at a hotel or a table in a cafe facing the street or to find a local guide who can conduct you up to one of the roofs, which is what we did. The view from the roofs is perfect, but sometimes the older roofs collapse under the weight of the people, so be careful.