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Sri Lanka has a range of Buddhist, Hindu, Christian and Muslim festivals which are all celebrated with great enthusiasm throughout the year.
January: The Duruthu Perahera is celebrated in January and is held in Colombo. It is a celebration of Budha’s first visit to Sri Lanka. In commemoration of this visit a procession is held for three nights with a colourful pageant of elephants, dancers, drummers and whip crackers attracting thousands of spectators.
February: National day is celebrated in February commemorating the day Sri Lanka gained independence from England. It is celebrated with parades and national games.
April: The Sinhala and Tamil New Year falls in April and the whole country appears to be on holiday for at least two weeks. It is celebrated with carnivals, fairs, games and races in every town and city. On New Years day people wear fine new clothes and visit friends and family with gifts. People celebrate by cooking a selection of Sri Lankan sweet dishes and following the tradition of boiling milk until it overflows at the given hour.
May: Vesak is a sacred full moon festival commemorating the birth, death and enlightenment of Buddha. At this time of the year, the streets are filled with Vesak pandols and homes are lit with Vesak lanterns.
July/August: The Kandy Esala Perahera is the country’s most important and spectacular pageant, with 10 days of torch-bearers, whip-crackers, dancers and drummers, not to mention beautifully decorated elephants. It climaxes in a great procession honoring the Sacred Tooth Relic of Kandy.
At the Hindu Vel festival the ceremonial chariot of Skanda, the God of War, is hauled between two temples accompanied by a parade of dances, drummer, fire-eater and stilt walkers.
The predominantly Hindu Kataragama festival is the destination to where thousands of devotees make the pilgrimage on foot. Devotees put themselves through ritual self-mortification. There is scorching sand to roll naked on and searing hot coals to walk barefoot over. Some participants prefer to poke a spear through one cheek, skewering the tongue in the process as it passes through to the other side. Many acts of penance don’t just start on arrival since the pilgrims have carried a kavadi, a decorated arched yoke, for up to 160 km (100 miles) without putting it down. The chanting of the pilgrims, the writhing bodies, the sounds of the blowing on conch shells, the frenzied beating of drums, the myriad shrines and deities all decked out in garlands and the gaudiest offerings combine to make this festival an unforgettable experience.
December: Christmas is a very festive time of year for not only Christians, as a great deal of shopping and gift giving is done by one and all. Most shops, hotels and homes are festively decorated for Christmas and for the New Year. Most parties and dances are held at this time of year, when the weather is a few degrees cooler and drier.
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