Once a year there is a big festival in Kandy, it takes place at night and is a procession building every night over a week. The procession is lit by fires carried on poles as well as by groups with flaming batons or wheels. It is exceptionally spectacular and apart from the elephants having lights powered by battery it has been the same for hundreds of years. It is judged on the number of elephants that are present. The streets around the Temple of the Tooth smell of elephants and have piles of dung heaped here and there.
The procession starts at 7.30pm and the streets are lined with people, some have been sitting on the road side for many hours. It starts with young boys with whips making loud cracks, then more boys with flaming batons. As the procession slowly moves on there are elephants covered with intricate cloth and lit by lots of small fairy lights. There are drummers giving a constant beat and some of the elephants seem to sway in time. Every now and then an important person goes past with attendant escort in his best ceremonial gear. Then boys spinning plates on sticks and wooden sword fighters. There is some repetition but you don’t get bored.
I was sat in the Queens Hotel at the entrance to the Tooth Temple where the procession starts it then goes round the town. Evidently on the last day it goes on till 3 in the morning!
