One of the torch bearer crew dressed, lit up, bathed and adored in red colour during the annual Esala Perahera in Kandy Sri Lanka, Asia's most spectacular event. Carrying of the torch is a family tradition for his kin and village folks and his forebearers have participated in this event with pride. One got to see this to appreciate the cultural, religious and artistic value of the Kandy Esala Perahera where Buddhism and Sri Lankan culture mix so magnificiently. Esala Perahera of Kandy is an annual 10-day event consisting of nightly parades of dancers, drummers, acrobats and canopy-laiden elephants. The streets of the historic town of Kandy, in the center of Sri Lanka's southern hill country, come alive with torches of fire carried by barefoot, bare-backed torch bearers, while thousands of spectators line the 2-3 kilometer route. Kerosene-fueled tongues of fire spill out from the torches held aloft in the air, miraculously avoiding the sweat-drenched skin of the torch bearers. I and others in the crowd would step back to let them pass, their torches dripping as they lit up the procession of dancers, drummers and elephants. Perhaps the sweat, made all the more profuse by the heat of the flame, was also responsible for dousing any errant flame that attempted to make contact with the bearers' glistening skin. The tradition goes back to centuries where this bearer’s forefathers carried out the same task. Majority of the torch bearers are of Tamil origin and speak fluent Sinhalese and take this event as the highlight of their year. This speaks of the cultural diversity and ethnic harmony in Sri Lanka contrary to some of the adverse reporting in the West about Sri Lanka’s treatment of minorities.
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