Colombo: Events

Colombo has an enormous range of Buddhist, Hindu, Christian and Muslim festivals. Many of the holidays are based on the lunar calendar so the dates vary from year to year.

The Duruthu Perahera, which celebrates a visit by Buddha to Colombo is held in January on the poya (full moon) at the Kelaniya Raja Maha Vihara. The Navam Perahera on the February poya is led by 50 elephants; it starts from the Gangaramaya Temple and is held around Viharamahadevi Park and Beira Lake.

Other celebrations include National Day, which is celebrated in February with parades, dances and national games; New Year in April; and the Hindu Vel festival, where the ceremonial gilded chariot of Skanda, the war god, is hauled from the Kathiresan kovils (temples) in Sea St, Pettah, to a kovil at Bambalapitiya.