slanka

Often referred to as the Teardrop of India, Sri Lanka will soon be a splash of activity and excitement as festival season descends upon this small island in the Indian ocean.

Esala is the name for the festival season in Sri Lanka, which falls on the island in July and August.

It is at the end of Esala, around the full moon day, that the grandest and most important festival-cum-pageant, Kandy Esala Perahera, takes place.

The ten day festival is a celebration of festivities, dancers, processions, torch-bearers and animals.

The spectacular medieval pageant is broken down into a number of smaller festivals across the ten days, and is kicked off by the Kumbal Festival on July 31st.

This is followed by the Randoli Festival, the Grand Festival and the dramatic Day Festival.

The climax of the celebrations sees the tooth relic of Buddha being carried through the city of Kandy, as part of a procession of hundreds of elephants in dressage, musicians in traditional dress and dancers.

Tourists and local Sri Lankans travel for miles to enjoy the experience, which is a raucous contrast to the usually sedate island.

No sooner has the dust settled after the great parades of elephants in Kandy, Sri Lanka is lit up by Diwali, the Hindu Festival of Lights.

The five-day event, which is celebrated by Hindus, Jains and Sikhs, symbolises the victory of good over evil, and the spectacular array of lights on display are lit to celebrate hope and mankind.

Wherever the festival is celebrated it is always an impressively dazzling sight, and on Sri Lanka it is no different.

Diwali is celebrated for five days in the Hindu month of Ashwayuja, which usually falls in October or November.