The streets of Colombo transform under the weight of 100 colourful elephants during February's full moon. The Navam Perahera, which started in 1979, attracts more than a million spectators every year to the Gangaramaya Temple, at Hunupitiya on the banks of the picturesque Beira Lake.
The event usually has as many as 1000 performers. The fearsome kas karayas inaugurate the processions by cracking their whips in the air, while schoolchildren scurry behind, carrying colourful flags. Plenty of noise is contributed by percussion bands, conch shell blowers, stilt-walkers, flautists and drummers, but the real guests of honour are the elephants, visiting from all over the island.
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