Today is Vesak Poya Day, the most important Festival in the year for Buddhists all over the world. Vesak Full Moon Poya Day is an annual holy day to commemorates the birth, enlightenment (nirvāna), and death (Parinirvāna) of Lord Buddha. It is a traditional celebration for the islands Buddhists, and is the most important Holy Day for Buddhists.

Vesak is celebrated in many other countries throughout Asia, however Sri Lanka's celebrations seem to stand out. During the Vesak season people from all ethnic and religious groups in the country get together and decorate their houses and streets, shops and towns.

Children and adults alike engage in the traditional Vesak lantern making, the streets of towns and cities are filled with these lanterns and everyone travels around to see the spectacles. It truly is a spectacle of lights and colours.

Keeping to my topic this month, Kandy, here are a few interesting videos about Kandy's most popular attraction and what is the most sacred place in the Buddhist world, the Temple of the Tooth Relic.

Each year in July or August (the exact date depends on the lunar calendar), one of the largest religious processions in the country takes to the streets of Kandy. This is called the Esala Dalada Perahara. Its origins date back to the 3rd and 4th centuries, and is a fusion of two separate processions, one to mark Esala Day and the other which is the Dalada Perahara. More information on this can be found here - http://daladamaligawa.org/ratnasinghe.htm , a very detailed description of the Kandy Perahara.

I have found the below videos to be of good value for those who may show an interest in going to Kandy. For those of you who wish to attend the 2013 event, here is a schedule I found online for the dates and times of each of the events the Perahara starts on the 11th Aug 2013 and Runs until the 21st Aug 2013, with separate events each year.