Beautifully caparisoned Maligawa tusker with the casket bearing relic
WWW Virtual Library - Sri Lanka
by ARIYADASA RATNASINGHE
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Although the Esala perahera in Kandy, as we see it today, dates back to the period of King Kirti Sri Rajasinha (1747-1780), there have been throughout history of the island, processions and festivals of great magnitude, which could be considered as the precursors of the present perahera. The early festivals connected with the 'Dantha Dhatu' (Tooth Relic of the Buddha) which were performed independently of festivals of gods seem to have taken place on the occasion of its annual removal temporarily from the Maligawa to the Abhayagiri vihara as required by King Sri Meghavanna (325-377), during whose reign the sacred Relic was brought to Sri Lanka, by Prince Danta and Princess Hemamala, from Kalinga (now Orissa).
Before 1775, the Esala perahera in Kandy was exclusively held to entreat and implore the four guardian deities of the island, viz: Natha, Vishnu, Kataragama and Pattini. This is confirmed by Robert Knox, who was a captive in the Kandyan provinces for twenty years (1659-1679). He says" "That they (the Sinhalese) may therefore honour these Gods, and procure their aid and assistance, they do yearly in the Month of July, at a New Moon, observe a solemn feast and general meeting called Perahar."
Buddhists, in principle, do not totally repudiate polytheism, the concept of divine worship, but pay their benefactions to the divine, although they consider them completely subordinate in importance to the Buddha. Therefore, the deities too receive the reverence and honour of the Buddhists. The worship of Gods and other divinities became popular among the Buddhists, specially during the period when Dravidian kings from Malabar in South India were ruling the country for 76 years (1739-1815). It was during this period that the Pattini cult took deep root in the soil of Sri Lanka, and Pattini became the guardian goddess replacing God Saman (the tutelary deity of Sri Pada).
Four Devales
It is of interest to know how the Dalada perahera came to be merged with the four devale peraheras. It happened this way. When bhikkus from Siam (now Thailand), headed by Pra Upali Maha Thera alias Buddhadhamma Upali came to Sri Lanka in 1775, in the Dutch vessels Oscarbel, to restore the defunct 'Upasampada' (the highest ordination qualifying a bhikku), their arrival coincided with the Esala festival that was being held in Kandy at the time to appease the four guardian deities, beseeching divine protection for the king, the country and the people.
When the Siamese (Thai) bhikku heard the noise of the jingalls (large swivel muskets of Indian origin), they surprisingly inquired from the king what the noise was about and the reason for all that unaccustomed practice. When the king explained to them that preparations were under way for celebrating the Esala festival in honour of the guardian deities of the island, they took umbrage at his words and expressed their sole disapproval and dissatisfaction for giving preferential treatment to Hindu practices in a country where Buddhism was the established religion. They expressed their deeper concern when they became aware that Hinduism has gradually triumphed over Buddhism under the patronage of the Dravidian kings who were Hindus.
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