Kataragama Murugan Temple,
Srilanka – Festivals
The festivals and daily rituals
do not adhere to standard Hindu Agamic or
Buddhist rituals. It follows ancient Vedda traditions of worship. Although
since the medieval period Hindus, Buddhists and even Muslims have tried to
co-opt the temple, deity and its worship as their own, the rituals maintained
by the native priests are still intact. The main festival known in Sinhalese
as Esela Perehera. It is celebrated during the months of July and August.
About 45 days before the
festival begins, the priests go into the forest and find two forked branches of
a sacred tree. The branches are then immersed in the local river and kept at
the shrines dedicated to Kataragama deviyo and Vali. When the main festival
begins, the Yantra representing the deity is retrieved from its storage
location, paraded through a street on top of an elephant, and carried to the
Valli shrine. After two hours, it is returned.
On the last day of the festival
the Yantra is left overnight at the Valli shrine and brought back to the main
shrine. The priests conduct the rituals in silence, covering their mouths with
white cloth. Associated with the main festival is fire walking arranged by a
master of the ritual. Hundreds of devotees participate in fire walking, yet
others participate in ecstatic dance forms called Kavadi and body piercing.
Many of the pilgrims exhibit signs of being possessed.
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