The Medin full moon Poya day is one of the 12 Poyas in the Buddhist calendar. This particular occassion commemorates Buddha visiting his home to preach to his father King Suddhondana and other relatives, revealing the path to enlightenment and final deliverance. On this day, Buddhists in Sri Lanka cease worldly pursuits and engage in religious activities

April (Annually)

Sinhala & Tamil New Year is the most important festival for Sinhala & Tamil community in the country. Traditional SriLankan society is based on agriculture and this festival celebrates the harvesting of paddy. The sun has played a major role in bringing their harvest and its importance is being strengthened by this event. The new year dawns when the sun makes its transition from the Meena Rashiya (House of Pisces) to the Mesh Rashiya (House of Aries) marking the starting of a new cycle according to the astrology. Sinhalese as well as Tamils welcome the Sinhala and Hindu New Year at an auspicious time and carry out all the important activities like first light the hearth, start cooking, eating and anoint oil all at an auspicious time. Commencing work and doing the first business transaction is also part of the traditions. Visiting the relations and friends forgetting all the bad things happened in the previous year is the most important social aspect of the festival. Offering beetle leaves and worshipping the elders also strengthens the links of the traditional SriLankan society. There are several games and fun activities to bring the joy of the celebrations.

The 'Green City' Nuwara-Eliya becomes the 'Flower City' during the month of April. Each year during this month of April most local and international tourists visit Nuwara-Eliya to enjoy this beauty. Based on this crowd, lots of entertaining events are organized and ultimately the month of April became 'April Season' in Nuwara-Eliya. When concerning about the local tourists, April is the vacation month for schools. And also the auspicious 'Sinhala & Tamil New Year' festival comes on the month of April and during this festive season the government declared 02 days holiday for public and bank sectors. So more local tourist rush to Nuwara-Eliya to enjoy the cool breeze and greenery

Vesak is the main event in Buddhists Calendar. The day celebrates Buddhas birth, enlightenment and death. The event is spiritual where all the Buddhists swarm in the temples, clad in white. Beautiful pandals and lanterns which are traditionally made of bamboo, are set up in many places in the country. A visit on Vesak night around the country or cities will be a rewarding experience

The Poson Full Moon poya day is the second most important Poya for Sri Lankan Buddhists. The day celebrates the introduction of Buddhism to Sri Lanka 2550 years ago. Mihindu thero visited Mihinthala Mountain and intelligently sermonized to king Devanampiyathissa who was hunting a deer. Mihinthalawa has been declared as a sanctuary and it is probably the oldest sanctuary in the world portraying Srilankans nature-friendly attitude. Main activities of Poson Full Moon Poya centers to Mihinthalawa, but celebrated around the country.

The annual Esala Festival at the Kataragama Shrine in Sri Lanka's southern jungle honours the variously named Kataragama God with two weeks of celebrations, culminating in a spectacular performance of devotees walking over burning coals.
Kataragama is one of the 16 principal places of Buddhist pilgrimage, and is also an important shrine for other religions - the Kataragama God pre-dates the Buddha of 2500 years ago, and was originally inherited (in some form) from the indigenous Vedda forest dwellers. To confuse things further, there's a Muslim shrine tucked among the foliage, and the Tamil Hindus revere the site as the home of their own warrior God, Skandha.

At festival time the jungle transforms under the weight of serious religious frenzy. The festivities begin on the first night with a flag-hoisting ceremony. Each following night, after the ritual puja, white-clad Kapurala shaman-priests perform a complex, carefully choreographed ritual in which the Kataragama God is depicted as emerging from his Maha Devale residence. He then rides in a grand torch-lit procession upon a beautifully-decorated elephant to visit his sweetheart, the jungle princess Valli, and returns without being seen.

Hundreds of devotees, dressed in their dhotis and ceremonial markings, turn up with huge earthenware vessels on their heads. Constant shouts of "Horo Hara" remind everyone of their presence. The holy ash and camphor inside these pots is carefully emptied out onto the floor outside the temples, for them to roll around in (and to be washed off later).

Things get even more colourful towards the end of the two-week festival with the "water-cutting" ceremony, which is enacted after the ritual puja. A holy casket (believed to contain the secret of God's birth) is dipped in the Manica Ganga sacred river, followed by thousands of pilgrims who submerge themselves - with their arms raised and to the shouts of "Hora Hara".

At about 4am when the river ablutions are complete, the area in front of the main temple is cleared and laboriously covered in a layer of burning tamarind firewood. Hundreds of cleansed pilgrims slowly make their way, barefoot, across the burning ash. No one is burned.

In 2008, the fire-walking should be taking place during the early hours of 15 July. While we do our best to source the most accurate dates possible, it's best to liaise with the local authorities before travelling.

Sri Paththirakaali Amman Temple, Colombo
The chariot festival of the Mayurapathy Sri Paththirakaali Amman temple is held in Colombo every year. The Hindu procession starts in the morning from the temple and continues all day

As the August moon waxes in the Buddhist month of Esala, a ten-day-long pageant takes over Kandy, Sri Lanka. Men fulfil vows to Hindu god Skanda by walking "in harness" with spikes in their backs, accompanied by a fabulous procession.
The procession includes fire-juggling acrobats, sumptuously-decorated elephants, traditional dancers, oboe-tooting musicians, banners, palanquins, whip crackers, torch bearers and thousands of barefoot pilgrims and swordsmen. To top it off, all this has happened every year since about 300 AD.

The action is made even more mesmerising because it happens at night. The old cannon booms after dusk and the Perahera (paraders) take to the streets for ten nights, with the parades growing ever longer each night until the final night of pageantry, when the parade is at its finest.

The festival is a synthesis of Hindu and Buddhist beliefs and is dedicated not just to Skanda but also to Buddha. It is held to invoke the blessings of the gods for rain, fertility, successful crops and good health. Elephants feature heavily as they are symbols of abundance and fertility - the "clouds who walk the Earth", instrumental in attracting the vital rains for harvest time.

The most treasured item in the procession is a copy of a golden reliquary said to hold a tooth of the Buddha. Legend has it that the Buddha's tooth was brought to Sri Lanka in the third century AD, hidden in the tresses of a princess. Pilgrims flock to visit the golden temple, Sri Dalada Maligawa, situated beside a tree-lined lake, every day of the year to catch a glimpse of the golden casket which holds the venerated molar.

The Sports Ministers Trophy sponsored by Sri Lanka Turf Club, will be held on10th August 2008. The Browns & Co Ltd for the first time is sponsoring a horse race meet which will be held in August 2009. There will be 6 races namely BROWNS CUP, BROWNS TOURS CUP, HAVELLS CUP, EXIDE CUP, OLYMPUS CUP and SHARP CUP. They intend putting out a grand show with a band in attendance and a fashion show. Grand prizes will be given for the BEST DRESSED LADY, BEST DRESSED GENT and PHOTOGENIC PERSONALITY. There will be 20 new thoroughbred horses imported from India in action

Deepavali is a colorful festival celebrated by Hindus all over the world. This is also known as the festival of lights and one important practice the Hindus follow during the festival is to light oil lamps in their homes. The festival is associated with many legends and beliefs. One of them is to commemorate the killing of Narakasura, a notorious demon, by Lord Krishna. Narakasura, because of his previous store of virtue, had been granted a boon at the moment of his death. He asked that his death might ever be, commemorated as a day of feasting. The fireworks that are burst during Deepavali symbolize the use of fiery weapons used during the war that Krishna waged against the demon. Hindus attired in new garments first visit the temples before having their festive meals.

Hadji or the Festival of Sacrifice (Turkish: Kurban Bayramı) is a religious festival celebrated by Muslims in Sri Lanka and worldwide in commemoration of the willingness of Ibrahim (Abraham) to sacrifice his son Ishmael as an act of obedience to God. The devil tempted Ibrahim by saying he should disobey God and spare his son. As Ibrahim was about to sacrifice his son, God intervened and instead provided a lamb as the sacrifice. This is why today all over the world Muslims who have the means to, sacrifice an animal (usually a goat or a sheep), as a reminder of Ibrahim’s obedience to God. The meat is then shared out with family, friends (Muslims or non-Muslims), as well as the poor members of the community

Lanka is home to many colorful birds. Over 400 birds including 33 endemics and 200 migrants have been observed on Sri Lankan soil. The Field Ornithology Group of Sri Lanka (FOGSL) the national affiliate of Birdlife International declared the month of December as the National Bird Month. December is the peak of the Bird Migration season and will record the highest number of birds. Many activities are being organized to educate the public on the subject of birds. Participants can simply go out bird-watching to as many places as possible. Make a list of species seen and mail it to fogsl. This data can be fed online and will be later analyzed and used for conservation pur

Sri Lanka is home for many Christians who celebrate Christmas in grand style. The festival season is marked by street decorations in many places of the city. Christmas carols are common and most of the major corporate companies customarily throw Christmas parties, especially on the eve of Christmas. City hotels plan Christmas programmes ahead and hold gala dinner dances on the eve of Christmas. Most of the churches also hold mid-night mass on the eve of Christmas. It is a public and bank holiday

Traditional activities on New Year Eve include dinner dances, partying till dawn, firecrackers. Most of the hotels in the country will host events to celebrate the New Year. Churches hold mid-night mass on the eve of New Year.