Kandy and Pinnewala the elephant orphanage

  Kandy, Sri Lanka
Sunday, August 26, 2007

ESALA PERAHARA FESTIVAL

This is one of the biggest festivals in Asia and the reason why I came to Sri Lanka at this time of the year.  The festival lasts 10 days and there is a procession each night.  Every night the route changes and it gets longer and bigger.  They carry the Buddha's tooth from the temple to the streets and back to the temple.

There are people sitting on the sidewalk at 2pm to get a good spot.  The procession starts at 6pm I was told, but really it starts at the temple at 8h05pm, an auspicious time apparently.  So depending on where you are sitting or standing you could easily wait until 9pm like I did the first 2 nights to see anything!  Mind you there was a lot of action during the wait.  Female police officers were walking the streets checking everyone's bag though we had already gone through a security check while entering the fenced area.  Then they washed the streets.  Another security check.  Some young local volunteers were going around handing out Panadols?  Marketing free samples???

First a group of men comes whipping the street.  I don't know if it has any significance, but it's probably to purify the road.  As they are coming people throw coins on the street.  Then some young guys come with hoops of fire.
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Second in the procession, the fire boys

 
They are followed by flag carriers (4 times during the procession) and finally by all the different groups of dancers with drummers and elephants!  All the elephants wear a cap, some with lights!  Most of them have beautiful long tusks!  Right aligned photo tag:

Some elephants come 2 X 2

A few carry some kind of throne to house relics.  When the elephant carrying the Buddha's tooth passes by the whole crowd stands up.  You must watch out though if you are in the first row on the sidewalk.  When an elephant took a piss I have to lift up my bag and if they make a big pooh.... someone comes and moves it closer to the sidewalk where people are sitting, you don't want to be sitting there! 

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Men carry torches like this during the procession

Also, all through the procession men carry buckets of burning coconuts!  So again you must look out for ashes and it smells!  All this put together, the constant sound of the drums, the excitement of the dancers, the beautiful elephants and the fire makes it a very impressive procession!  I have been 3 nights so far and will go again tomorrow for the last and best evening!  Well worth the hours of waiting every night and all the security checks I must go through!

PINNEWALA THE ELEPHANT ORPHANAGE

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Elephants enjoy a 2 hour bath twice a day!

This big elephant orphanage was another reason why I came to Sri Lanka and my first destination.  I spent a whole day at the orpheanage enjoying my big friends.  There are about 88 elephants at the orphenage and a lot of young ones.  The elephants go to the river twice a day to bath and you can follow them and watch.  I arrived just on time to cross the road with them and follow them down to the river.  I stayed there watching for 2 hours.  They seem to enjoy themselves and the young ones are very playful.  Then their caretakers gather them all and they come out and go up the road back to the orphanage.  There they feed and walk around for a while getting dirty in the sand.  Left aligned photo tag:

Milk feeding with the bottle and a long hose...

Some young ones are given a few milk bottles.  Let me tell you it goes down quickly and it takes several bottles to feed one young elephant!  Again, they go back to the river for another two hours and come back up the road Right aligned photo tag:

Bringing the herd back home!

to the orphanage for the rest of the day.  One elephant is missing a foot, but somehow manages to hop a bit and follows the herd.  Later, I met a tourist who had been there years ago and remembers this elephant.  It proves they take good care of them. Unfortunately, you had to pay to pet the babied.  I refused to pay for that and missed another chance to pet the cute ones.  Luckily, I have done it several times before.