Dondra Vishnu Devalaya Perahara Festival in Sri Lanka
• This temple is situated in Dondra, 6 Kms from Matara. This is located just on the main road and you will not miss it as you travel towards Tangalle from Matara
• Dondra Shrine is a mix of a Buddhist temple and some shrines of several gods. Among them, the shrine of the God Vishnu (Uthpalawanna Sri Vishnu Devalaya) is the main and the largest one. Legends say that Dondra is the home of God Vishnu.
• Dondra Perahera one of Asia’s Highly Traditional and most spectacular parades, take place in the Buddhist month of esala,usually in august .The dondra festival season lasts fortnight
• This is 762th annual esala Maha Mangalya
History of Dondra Shrine
- Dondra Shrine has a very long history dated back to seventh century. According to history, King Dhappula has built the Shrine of God Vishnu around 650 AC. It was a three storied stone building. Portuguese invaders totally destroyed it in 1587. Even today, some stone pillars, a stone door frame and some other stone made remains can be seen there. The existing building is a recently built one (1954). The procession said to be started in around 1257 AC, and it is believed that this year procession is the 762nd one. It makes this one way older than the procession of The Sacred Temple of Tooth Relic (Kandy). But obviously this is much lesser in magnitude compared to it
This Video Showing Traditional Kawadi Dance ,it’s Very Popular Dance In Sri Lanka.. There are 30+ kawadi (Papare) Group Dance Some Peoples Known as Kawadi ,Some peoples called As Papare
