Kataragama Perahera

The Kataragama Perahera is held in the months of July/August is a festival that commences with the new moon in the Esala month. 

Kataragama Perahera is considered as the oldest procession out of the large number of Perahera in the country. This is conducted for two weeks and it attracts thousands of Buddhist, Hindu devotees including the Veddha community who make the pilgrimage on foot from as far afield as Jaffna in Sri Lanka. 

The two month pilgrimage from Nagadeepa in Jaffna to Kataragama shrine dedicated to God Skanda Murugan. The pilgrims are mostly dressed in yellow clothes cover about 5-6 miles a day during Pada Yathrei / traditional foot pilgrimage to Kataragama. They arrive in Kataragama for the annual Esala festival and Perahera. 

Kataragama's main temple of the Maha Devala is dedicated to the Hindu God of war, Skanda. The other shrines are dedicated to the deities Ganesha, Vishnu to the Goddesses Kali and Pattini. 

📷 courtesy- timeout.com / Lanka.com