The trip I didn't want to take

It's a parade. I hate parades. I avoid them at all costs (except for the Corn and Apple Festival Parade in Morden, MB! That parade rocked). So I didn't really want to go and sit for hours to watch a parade.

The parade was to take place in Kandy as it always does. The parade is called the Perahera. It is a parade that you will not see anywhere else in the world. Even that didn't peak my interest. So I had decided that I wasn't going to go. I had decided that I would spend the last of my money on a trip with Reb to spend some quality time and help her find a saree for graduation instead of going to see the parade.

The Vetschs and there landlady, Rosie were going to see the Perahera. Rosie asked me if I was coming and I told her that I didn't have money to go (because I was saving it for my trip with Reb). That day I got a call from Murray saying that they were already going so not to worry about paying for the van. I took a moment to think and realized that I was going to pass up to see something that is very unique to Sri Lanka just because I hate parades at home. That was really stupid so I said I'd go.

So the Perahera is a parade that includes 5 temples. Each temple has elephants, dancers and musicians who are dressed to the nines - even the elephants!! Each temple assembles their parade at their temple and then they travel to the other 4 temples and then ends again back at their temple.

The whole purpose of this is to celebrate the tooth relic (of buddha) which is in the Temple of the Tooth. It is the most revered and celebrated relic in all of Sri Lanka. Each temple in the Perahera has some sort of special thing in it and they have theirs in the parade as well. These special items are carried by an elephant that is dressed very elaborately.

The elephants are dressed in a costume that covers their body. They have a very decorated cloth that covers their bodies, a head piece that covers the top of their head and their trunk and also decorated covers for their ears. The cool part is that they are lit up with lights as well. Each elephant carries a battery on his back which powers the lights. It is definitely something worth seeing. So you can probably guess that the parade takes place at night. The Perahera starts at about 8:30pm.

There are also Kandian dancers and musicians. There were all kinds of dances performed by men and women, adults and children. The costumes were very cool but very hard to describe. You'll have to wait to see my pictures when I get home. There were also fire dancers! Some of them were on stilts. It was crazy.

We were very blessed on this trip. Rosie had a friend that gave us passage to watch the Perahera from the temple grounds at the Temple of the Tooth. We got to watch the elephants being dressed and the dancers getting ready. We met some important people in the Buddhist Association. Most people don't have that opportunity, they are squished together along the sidewalks with thousands of other people.

We didn't make it home until 3:30am. I'm really tired today but it was well worth it. This definitely won't be on my list of regrets.