The Navam Perahara - Colombo, Sri Lanka

Every February here in Colombo Sri Lanka the main event would be the Navam Perahara. Navam meaning February and Perahara meaning Parade. Not only it is the Biggest event in Colombo but also it is the only Sri Lankan Cultural Parade seen in Colombo. Like how Kandy has the annual Dalada Perahara , Kataragama has its annual Festival, Sri Pada has the climbing season, Jaffna has the hindu festival season, Anuradhapura has Poson season and so on. But Colombo didn’t have any such cultural event. So in the 1960s with the patronage of the Chief Priest of Gangarama Temple, the Navam Perahara was initiated.

Why February ? it was on a Navam Poya – February full moon day, was the first time Lord Buddha introduced Sariyuth & Mugalan Maha Rahath theros as his chief disciples. As a tribute to the triple gem – Trivida Ratna Upahara, this Navam Perahara was started in February.

At the beginning the Parade didn’t consist of the Elephants, which is a very famous part these days in the parade. So the parade had bullock cart floats of various Buddhist related topics.

After its inception it continued for sometime but was then halted when the chief priest of the temple fell ill. Again in 1979, a minister named R. Premadasa [who became the President of Sri Lanka in the 1980s ] in the lead along with many Buddhist devotees and the temple’s dayaka uapsakas [parish members] insisted that we restart this parade. And so in a very short duration, like a month, everything was organized and arranged to start this tradition once again in Colombo. From that day until today [except for the one time in 1995 when Colombo Central bank was attacked by Terrorists] the Navam Perahara has been the Jewel of all Colombo events. 

This is the biggest parade in Colombo consisting of more than 2000 participants. About 40 elephants take part. The parade consists of various cultural, traditional dances found all over Sri Lanka – Uadarata [Kandyan], Pahatharata [Low country dances], Sabaragamu dances and many more. Various flags including Buddhist flags, flags of different provinces of the country, traditional flags and other different cultural presentations can also be seen. 

Perahara is lead by the Kasa or the striking of whips. Traditionally, it is used to announce the parade is commencing. Then in the old days it is the fire lanterns & fire light dancers. But in this parade the formation is a bit altered as the sole purpose of that dance is to light the way in the old days, but now it is mainly aesthetic and due to certain inconveniences the fire dancers comes late in the parade. The official beginning of the main parade starts with the arrival of the “Peramune Rala”. He is the official in-charge of the parade. He comes wearing traditional clothing riding a tusker. Then comes the “Gajanayaka” or the Official in-charge of the Elephants of the parade. Then various dancers, drums and other cultural performances follow. OH ! not forgetting the young and old elephants in their extravagant outfits and some even dancing to the tune.! 

Of course there are many unique characteristics found in this Perahara which you will not find in any other parade seen in Sri Lanka. Like usually in a traditional Buddhist Perahara the Karanduwa or the Sacred Tooth Relic of Lord Buddha is being carried in the parade as the last event, but here it is arriving in the middle of the parade. Also what’s special about the Navam Perahara is that it truly displays the real essence of Colombo and also the country as a whole. True it’s a Buddhist , Singhalese country but it is also a multi cultural, multi religious nation where all races, religions and cultures exist in harmony. The Navam Parahara takes that extra step to portray this mixture of differences and how beautiful it can be when they all work together. Hence you will find a Muslim Dance and a Mayura [peacock] dance which is a sacred dance usually presented for the sake of God Kataragama a Hindu God presented by the Tamil community. 

Some of the traditional dancers that taking part in this parade comes from the original families of different dance traditions. And for them dancing at a parade like this is a true honour. They do this with much pride, you will definitely notice it when watching the parade.

Also this parade is used as a showcase of Sri Lankan Culture. It  even includes playing of “Dandubera”. It’s a type of drum, but not even a musical instrument! It is in fact a bamboo drum made by children for play but is an amusing addition to this parade. 

The route of the Perahara is starting from the Ramanayake Mawatha to the Gangarama Temple through James Peris Mawatha, Navam Mawatha, Duplication Road behind Cinnamon Grand Hotel, Perahara Mawatha and back to the Temple.

It starts at 7pm, but usually people gather much sooner to pick a good spot to sit and watch the parade. And most of the time traffic is also present hours closing up to the parade and some roads also blocked to make way to the procession.

Anyone can come and watch this. It’s completely FREE. If you want to reserve seats you can purchase them for a donation of 30USD. This can be done at the Temple Office. Usually this is for foreigners. And for Locals, seats are reserved for main Dayaka Upasakas [parish members] who has made donations for this Parade to happen. But don’t worry there are plenty of places on the streets where the parade will be passing and you can watch without much hassle.

The Navam Perahara will take place as two Peraharas [both same] on the 2^nd & 3^rd of February 2015.

A massive Tourist Attraction to Colombo and honestly I can easily understand why. 


visit the Gangarama Temple Website for more details 

more Pictures of the Navam Perahara 2013 visit Savaary Sri Lanka Facebook Page 

Top Banner courtesy of Gangaramaya Temple Website. All Other Pictures & Videos are property of Savaary Sri Lanka.