impacked

There is serious talk in my household of going to Sri Lanka in September and would love to see a festival. Any one know of the Navarathri festival Dates?

Craig

Friday, October 12 - 20. I think this Hindu festival is bigger in India than it is in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka however, is known for its abundance of religious festivals - you might get lucky in September.

Kathie

Martin, please tell us about your trip to Sri Lanka. When did you go? How long did you stay? What were the highlights for you? Any special hotels or restaurants you'd like to tell us about? So far, all of you posts are about your driver.

impacked

Thanks for your information. We only have time in the beginning of September. So, festival or not (I hope) we will be there. As, we get closer to making a decison I hope to gain more information from you!

Thank you.

Mohammed

Hi Impacked,

There is no major fesitval in Sri Lanka called "Navarathri" - closest phonetic would be "Sivarathri" but that again is a small one and it is in January.

One of the better festivals is the Kandy Perahara also known as the "Esala Perehara". It is held on several days through August and is a processing in the ancient hill town of Kandy with many different exotic dancers, and ofcourse lots of beautifully draped elephants. The event pays respect to the buddha and takes the buddhas tooth on the procession.

Another nice festive time to visit is during Wesak with marks the birth, enlightenment and death of the Lord Buddha, but the weather is quite rainy at this time of year.

Christmas time is nice time to visit, lots of parties etc for the New Year as well.

Please feel free to email me on [email protected] if you need any more information.

Kind regards
Mohammed Abidally
(Sri Lanka)

Mohammed

Sorry for not mentioning - Wesak is during the May Full Moon, this year it falls on 1st and 2nd May 2007.