Perahera

A street in Sri Lanka is very crowded as the Perahera, an annual Buddhist procession during the Festival of the Tooth in Sri Lanka [then Ceylon], moves down the street. The parade down the center has lines of men in traditional clothing or costume, a line of elephants, three across, wearing decorative covers over their heads called, seeri, and blankets over their backs. On the elephant in the middle is a howdah. Over the howdah is a canopy held up on six long, thin poles held by six men walking along either side of the elephant. Men ride on the backs of the two elephants on either side of the center elephant. Behind the row of elephants are men playing instruments and dancing. Along both sides of the road are crowds of people watching the parade. Printed on the bottom left of the photograph in white ink, "The Perahera - An Annual Buddhist Procession - ." Printed on the bottom right-hand corner of the photograph in white ink, "Scowen & Co. Ceylon."