Luckily enough our Project dates coincided with those of the Kandy Esala Perahera, a procession held in Kandy to honour the sacred tooth of the Buddha enshrined in the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic. Thus, we felt that it would be a great experience to spend a weekend in Kandy, taking in the social and cultural highlights of Kandy, as well as watching the Perahera.We started the day off by visiting the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, Sri Dalada Maligawa. Situated just North of the Kandy Lake, the temple houses Sri Lanka’s most important relic – a tooth of the Buddha. Thriving with tourists and locals, the temple boasts numerous rooms filled with reliquaries and gifts – within one of these rooms we were surprised to see hand fans made of solid silver used by monks among other gorgeous gifts. We visited other rooms as well, but my lasting impression of the temple was of lining up with devotees and tourists to see the tooth which is actually kept in a gold casket shaped like a dagoba.After our trip to the temple we went further afield to visit the Peradeniya Botanic Gardens, the largest botanic gardens in Sri Lanka. We were all very impressed by the diversity of the gardens – with plants and trees including giant bamboo trees, cannon ball trees and double coconut trees.Our day in Kandy culminated with the Perahera. Some of us opted for the more expensive option, paying for chairs lining the streets. The rest of us decided on the local option, bought some plastic and sat on the pavement. The procession started with men in colourful costumes artfully cracking whips, followed by awesome fire-throwers. The rest of the procession was broken up into five: four of them representing Kandy Devales and the other for the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic. Each procession included groups of Kandyan dancers and drummers in colourful attire. Thirty elephants were also paraded shrouded in stunning embroidered cloths and lights.I thoroughly enjoyed this annual spectacle, adding further depth to our cultural understanding of Sri Lanka.