Buddhist parade elephants in annual Sri Lankan pageant

The highlight is a casket carried by a tusker which Buddhists believe contain a relics of Buddha.

COLOMBO (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of people lined the streets of Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo to watch an annual Buddhist pageant where hundreds of drummers, traditional dancers and torch bearers escort dozens of beautifully decorated elephants in a colourful parade. It is the first major gathering of people in Sri Lanka since the outbreak of the coronavirus.

The pageant which starts from the Gangaramaya Buddhist temple, one of the prominent religious places in the capital of this Indian Ocean Island and has been held annually for decades. The elephants are bathed in early afternoon and then dressed in colourful garments.

Hundreds of dancers, drummers and torch bearers accompanied by dozens of colourfully lit up elephants paraded the three and a half kilometer route. The roads were packed with locals and foreigners.

The elephants swayed to the beat of the drums as Buddhist priests, old men and women and children stayed transfixed for nearly three hours it took the parade to pass.

The highlight is a casket carried by a tusker which Buddhists believe contain a relics of Buddha.