Show ohie he Per in r kand ad a 1 highly adorned indian royal elephant prepared Prep rd by national Soc society wahington D C TrA INDY ceylon la Is donning festive KANDY KA attire for its Pera Per nera pro cessions sessions ces which have been held annually in the city for centuries there Is a tradition that the pere pera nera hera processions professions process ions have been held annually since the time when bud Budd budihas has tooth was brought to ceylon hi hidden within the colls coils of f the hair of a kalingo princess some eight hundred years after the death of the blindu sage about B C despite the later wanderings and at times violent history of the tooth it was carried off to goa on the indian mainland in by the portuguese who maintain that the present relle relic Is only a reproduction the sacred festival has changed but little in barbaric splendor through the centuries today the Per also commemorates the birth of the god vishnu who first saw light on the day of the new moon in esala july august another version of the origin of the processions professions process ions concerns the activities of a certain king Gaja bahu who Is credited with having liberated of his bis own people from foreign rule in india then men returned with them to his own domain bringing in addition captives and a number of sacred objects of which his kingdom had been despoiled years previously the celebration of this victory took the form of a great parade which has been observed annually up to the present time ten days of fervor the processions professions process ions take place nightly over a period of ten days beginning with the first evening of the waxing moon moo n in ansala each one has a special religious significance but for the first five days the general public takes no active part from the sixth evening on everybody in town participates even if only to carry a lamp or urge the dancers to further farther effort the wild anti and eerie effect depends largely upon the glowing torches and elavery light of a brilliant moon tor for upon the day Peni Per hera only one procession takes place in daylight hours the sunshine gives a garish touch to the glistening costumes perhaps the actors themselves feel the lack lach of spotlights and footlights which the osta stage 0 O of tin an eastern evening to so imply amply pr provides oTides budihas Budd has tooth in a cool dark room upon a table of solid silver la Is the golden bell shaped shrine studded with jewels protected from all eyes except the sons of kings and other high personages to whom occasionally it Is unveiled the tooth rests on a gold latus leaf mount A wall of glass reaching from tile the ceiling to the floor shields the sacred relle relic and many other jewels and treasures treasurer over the shrine stands stand a glittering silver peacock from whose tall hangs the scintillating emerald of kaudy known the world over for its sibe and luster hack back every everybody bodyl A clear road for ills highness the temple elephant and for the troupes of whirling dancers yet to come cornel hark the whip crackers who I 1 in n earlier days dayi cleared the street with their s snapping thongs herald the approach every one catches the spirit of infectious ious excitement that prevails when the crowd takes up the shouting which hach swells to a roar as the Per at last comes into view wonderful spectacle nearer and nearer draw the elephants ts they stop but the halt Is short and on they come again so tense Is the when the nead of the column draws drabs near you almost forget to snip your cameras what a s sight ight lies before you I 1 thousands upon thousands of brightly clad ceylonese from ill all over the island interspersed persed with many forel foreign n visitors armed with all kinds of can cameras teras straining and leaning to see the process procession lon the staccato beat of many drums reaches the ears and the gorgeous temple elephant and his fals two fla companions come into view then the first of the frantic dancers wea weaves vesto in and out with rhythmic step to the beat of drums and clash of th the brazen cymbals tl it i requires three quarters of an hour for the richly caparisoned caparison tied ed elephants the glittering groups of dancers and dignified chiefs in gorgeous robes obes to pass in front of a reviewing stand scenes of wild excitement every now and then the P procession cession stops at such times the music becomes faster and faster drummers heating beating madly leap into the air and in a frenzy tt of excitement trumpeters Trum peters blow shrilly adding to the earsplitting ear splitting din tirelessly whirl the dancers stamping their feet waving their arms advancing and retiring as they spin to the ever quickening rhythm rarely even in the east does one see such utter motional abandon to the accompaniment of such clamor the participants in the ceremony coser many miles in their gyrations during the course of the Per and at the end are in a state of complete exhaustion there are no DO women dancers feast for artists eye to convey some conception of the brilliant colors of this kaleidoscope of swaying elephants and wild dancers dancer requires the services of an artist rather than a writer A particularly large and specially be decked elephant with gold and sliver silver howdah not ill disdaining dain the use of science in its decorations has a bright electric eye in the center of his forehead another in cloth of royal blue heavily embroidered broi dered with silver carries on his back a king kings a ramsom in jewelry there was a time when the king of 0 randy took part in the annual pro cessions sessions ces surrounded by his chiefs in resplendent costumes it Is easy to imagine his progress through excited throngs thrones of loyal subjects today the king Is gone but the chiefs remain to carry on the tradition perhaps some of the chiefs would gladly discontinue the practice of appearing in the pro cessions sessions ces but the simple countryman expects to see his lord in all the glory of jewels and cloth of gold ile he makes the journey to randy kandy only once a year and on that day wants to see gee the parades as his father saw them night ceremony Is weird but it Is at night that the Per ahers takes on all the glamour and weirdness of oriental pageantry A beautiful clear clea night with a full moon and myriads pf af stars overhead makes a perfect setting for the flowing stream of lights and gyrating human beings smoking censers censera swing from hand to hand and braziers la in which glow husks of burning coconuts co conuis are held aloft by hundreds of torch bearers to augment the street lamps in casting a fairylike spell over the scintillating costumes find and shining brown bodies of the thousands of enthusiastic marchers barchers mar chers tile the coconut husks burn with a fitful yellow red light and emit acrid fumes too pungent for occidental tastes but they have illuminated Per parades for centuries and still serve that purpose well it la is art an incongruous sight amid such and pomp circumstance to observe quantities of coconut husks being along agolig in modern rushed t to 0 keep the braziers fuel constantly supplied suppell ed with water cutting ceremony at the end of the procession the water carriers come hearing bearing palanquins palan quins of sacred water taken taked the year from the Ma hawell before ganga canga one of accy C ions largest rivers y through randy kandy this which flo flows ws ceremony avater of the cutting wilen when temple slash the prints arlt s with and attendants their swords s rd 3 scoop up the W water ater in golden golde n pitchers lg is the of the Por Per closing event behind the palan palanquins quins press pre ss masses of humanity which h stretch as far the as eye can see se e completely streets orderly filling the tha patient and an Q cheerful is this v vast ast multitude holds the final ritual n as it be b |