The first Randoli Perahera of this year’s Kandy Esala Festival is scheduled to take to the streets tonight (04), as part of the historic annual procession, one of the oldest and grandest festivals in Sri Lanka.

The Randoli Perahera will parade the streets for five days until August 8.

The Sri Dalada Esala Perahera of the Sacred Temple of the Tooth Relic (Sri Dalada Maligawa) in Kandy commenced with the first Kumbal Perahera parading the streets on July 30. The Kumbal Perahera was held for five days until yesterday (03).

The Kandy Esala festival will draw to a close following the water-cutting ceremony at the Mahaweli River in Getambe on August 9.

This year’s Esala Festival will officially come to an end after the Nilames of the Satara Maha Dewalayas together with the Diyawadana Nilame of the Temple of Tooth Relic, Pradeep Nilanga Dela present the Sannasa (Scroll) to the President.

The ‘Kap Situweema’ ceremony of Kandy Esala Perahera was held in the morning of July 25, officially declaring the commencement of this year’s procession and was followed by a five-day internal Perahera of ‘Satara Maha Dewalayas’.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka Police noted that the special security plan will continue to be in place and that 6,000 police officers have been deployed in the Kandy city to ensure the safety of the general public during the Perahera season.