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For centuries, the island has been known for its festivals. In fact for the people of Sri Lanka there is something to celebrate at all times, with colourful traditional rituals, ceremonies and a glittering pageantry unique to Sri Lanka.
The exact dates of most festivals tend to change from year to year as they depend on lunar and solar phases. The following are some of the festivals you may wish to discover...
January - Id-Ul-Fitr (Ramazan festival) the culmination of the Islamic fasting period.
Kelaniya Duruthu Perehera. Sri Lanka's most elaborate low country religious and cultural pageant conducted by Kelaniya Rajamatia Viharaya, the sacred temple in the western province. The Perehera commemorates for religious significance of Lord Buddha's third visit to Sri Lanka and supports Sri Lanka's cultural traditions of drummers, dancers, singers, elephants and colourful parades.
February - Navam Perehera - a colourful festival including dancers, with elephants parading the streets of Colombo in the vicinity of the Gangaramaya Temple for two days.
Independence Day is celebrated on the 4th February with parades and pageants depicting the nation's culture and achievements.
April - Sinhala and Tamil New Year is a traditional event which marks the passage of the sun from Pisces to Aries and is celebrated island-wide observing age old customs with the emphasis being that of a carnival.
May - May Day is celebrated with parades and rallies organised by the Trade Unions to mark the international worker's day.
Vesak Full Moon commemorates the birth, enlightenment and passing away of Gauthama the Buddha. Large illuminated pandals and pageants and the distribution of
food and refreshments to pilgrims is the order of the day.
June - Poson Full Moon commemorates the advent of Buddhism to Sri Lanka in the 3rd century BC and is celebrated with religious observations. Illuminations, pageants and processions are part of the celebrations held in most parts of the island.
July-Aug - Esala Festival, Kandy - probably the world's most spectacular annual festival held during a period of ten days in the hill capital of Kandy, is a gigantic procession of hundreds of dancers, over one hundred elephants clad in ceremonial attire, hundreds of drummers and torch bearers light the whole city, converting the area to a carnival.
The Esala Full Moon is also celebrated in other parts of the island, with similar Festivals to that in Kandy being held in Kataragama, Dondra, Bellanwila and Munneswaram.
Vel is the main annual Hindu festival celebrated in most parts of the island, with an ornately decorated Vel chariot parading the streets while carrying the weapons of god Skanda from one temple to another.
October - Deepavali is the festival of lights celebrated by all Hindus to welcome Lukshmi.
December - Unduwap Full Moon (Sangamitta day) commemorates the historic day on which the sapling from the India, under which the Gauthama Buddha attained enlightenment, was brought to Sri Lanka. Today devotees pay homage at the sacred Bo Tree in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka's first capital.
Christmas is also very much part of the island's festivities and is celebrated island-wide by Christians.
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