Page 64 - Off the Tourist Trail - 1000 Unexpected Travel Alternatives (Part 1 of 2)

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PARTIES FORGET ST PATRICK’S

AND DAY IN NEW YORK?

THE BUILD-UP New York’s St Patrick’s Day is
one of the world’s most famous saint’s day
FESTIVALS Esala Perahera, festivals, first celebrated in 1762 by Irish soldiers
in the British Army and held every year since.
The festival attracts huge crowds of enthusiastic
Sri Lanka
participants and spectators, after which
seemingly the entire city retires to the nearest
pub to celebrate the festivities in an atmosphere

vs St Patrick’s Day, NYC of cheerful bonhomie.
THE LETDOWN St Patrick’s Day in New York is
the expression of everything Irish – at least if by
“Irish” you mean green beer, fake leprechauns,
and giant styrofoam shamrocks. For many, the
New York’s St Patrick’s Day parade is one of the biggest, but for a memorable procession,
saint’s day in New York is now less a genuine
head to Sri Lanka’s Esala Perahera, a showpiece of dancing, drumming, and elephants celebration of Celtic culture and the Catholic
faith than a send-up of Irishry and its stereo-
types, accompanied by rampant commercialism
and vast crowds of tanked-up revelers.
Kandy in Sri Lanka instead. Dating back to the
NEED TO KNOW
4th century AD, the festival celebrates the Tooth GOING ANYWAY? The best places to watch the
LOCATION The Esala Relic, one of Buddhism’s most venerated objects.
Perahera festival takes place parade are toward the north end of the route,
*/%*" +BõOB
in Kandy, Sri Lanka Said to be a tooth from the mouth of the Buddha away from the crowds that gather on the
WHEN Late-Jul or early himself, it was rescued from his funeral pyre in sidewalks below 59th Street. Try sitting at the
Aug, lasting ten days; "OVSBEIBQVSB north India and eventually brought to Sri Lanka in top of the steps outside the Metropolitan
the exact dates vary from
year to year 43* -"/," the 4th century AD. The Tooth Relic now resides in Museum of Art for a great view, or catching a
#BZ PG close-up glimpse of the marchers as the parade
DAYTIME #FOHBM the Temple of the Tooth in Kandy. Once a year, for
TEMPERATURES $PMPNCP ,"/%: ten days during the lunar month of Esala (late July/ turns east along 86th Street.
73°F (23°C) around the *OEJBO
time of the festival 0DF B O early August), the tooth (in recent years, a replica)
is taken in a procession from various starting points
around the streets of Kandy, while thousands of
Religious processions of one kind or another are a spectators congregate from across Sri Lanka and
worldwide phenomenon, celebrated by Christians, many foreign lands to watch.
Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists alike in countries The parade is one of Asia’s great visual
spanning continents, from Japan to Brazil. spectacles and starts at night. Soon after darkness
St Patrick’s Day in New York City is one of the falls, a deafening cannon shot announces its start.
biggest and most popular, first celebrated in 1762 First, torch-bearers walk slowly through the streets,
and now attracting vast crowds, who come to ogle cracking whips to ensure silence and chase away ABOVE Revelers garbed in green, cheering from the sidelines
the marching bagpipers, firemen, policemen, and evil spirits. Then the procession swells into view. as the St Patrick’s Day parade marches up Fifth Avenue
members of assorted Hibernian societies. Everyone Hundreds of drummers appear, pounding away
puts on green for the day and drinks a bit too at their instruments and filling the streets with
much Guinness. But although it’s a great party, its deafening rhythms, while acrobatic dancers
religious origins have got lost over the years, and dressed in elaborate traditional costumes turn
as a spectacle it has become relatively forgettable. and spin around them. They are followed by the
For a truly memorable religious procession, elephants, brightly caparisoned and decorated PRACTICAL INFORMATION
head for the flamboyant Esala Perahera festival at with miniature lights, accompanied by flag-waving
Getting There and Around places to stay. The atmospheric
retainers, stilt-walking acrobats, and bigwigs The nearest airport is at hotel is set high above the
dressed up as kings and nobles in 18th-century Colombo, around 3 hours by town in a wackily decorated
Kandyan attire. The biggest cheer is reserved for road or rail from Kandy. house, complete with weird
the mighty Maligawa Tusker. The biggest and most Where to Eat and wonderful décor and
artworks – from period
brilliantly dressed of the 100-plus elephants on There is a dearth of great places
to dine in Kandy. However, photographs and fashion
view, this splendid male elephant is entrusted magazine cut-outs to
Devon’s and The Pub, in the city
with carrying the replica of the Tooth itself. The center on Dalada Vidiya are both wax-encrusted candelabras.
enormous procession continues for around passable options. Alternatively, Budget per Day for Two
2 hours, parading three times around the streets, try Sri Rams on Colombo Street Around US$140, including
while dancers, drummers, and acrobats work for cheap South Indian food. accommodations and dining
at the hotels and restaurants
themselves up to ever greater levels of virtuosity. Where to Stay recommended.
A second cannon shot signals the end – at least Helga’s Folly (www.helgasfolly.
com) is one of Sri Lanka’s Websites
until the entire spectacle resumes again after
quirkiest and most colorful www.daladamaligawa.org
ABOVE Dalada Maligawa, the Temple of the Tooth at Kandy darkness the following night.

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