Backstage Artists and Crew

I went away on a short trip with my camera gear and summer clothes to live and capture images of the Esala Perahera and its ancient Buddhist rituals in Kandy, Sri Lanka, where I was born and raised. With the help of contacts in Sri Lanka, I managed to be embedded with the media crews of this festival. The mainstream media traditionally captured this annual event, focussing on its public highlights. Instead, I chose to capture the hardworking crews behind the scenes. The artists and crews were the unsung heroes who made this great event the best cultural show in Sri Lanka.

Dancing at this ceremony, drumming and carrying the fire torches are family traditions for the participants and their kin. It is a male-dominated event in a backwater country. The participants do this voluntarily with pride. It is also a religious and artistically significant glorious celebration. Esala Perahera is a 10-day event with night parades of dancers, drummers, acrobats, canopy-laden elephants, and backstage crews. The tradition goes back centuries from the time when their forefathers participated. I re-lived history by witnessing it close up.

Most of the torchbearers are of Tamil origin and speak fluent Sinhala and take this event as the highlight of their calendar. I met many a Christian lad who did not hesitate to remove their crosses and medals hanging on their necks before participating in this event as a means of respect to Buddhism, the mainstream religion in Sri Lanka. Here, Buddhism and Sri Lankan culture mix so magnificently without barriers. The event could transform the troubled nation of Sri Lanka, struggling with its national identity and distinct ethnicities.

These are some of the images from that trip.

The young man, a volunteer as a lamp carrier, was happy but bemused while he posed at my camera. However, the youngsters behind him were amused and enjoying the moment. The older volunteers on the left were far more relaxed in their pose.

Two young fire crew…. captured as they were ready for the event.

The ceremonial and spiritual lives of the Lankan people remain so resilient. Despite enduring many rebellions, they have not lost the integrity and simplicity of life.

These two boys considered participation as their national duty.

This youngster, a volunteer lamp carrier, was happy and in the best mood while he smiled at my camera. His free spirit was on display.

Torchbearers have stopped replenishing fuel and copra (dried coconut husk) during the annual Esala Perahera.

Two of the torchbearer crew dressed, lit up, bathed and adorned in red.

These two young dancers were ready with their costumes and were about to participate in their act on Esala Perehera. I was passing by them when they boldly asked me to take their photo. Instead of posing, I requested an instant dance act. They relaxingly obliged. You can see the pride and joy on their faces.

The torchbearer crew, dressed in red, waited for their turn to carry the torches. They have done this every year without fail from their adolescent years. Their lithe and slim bodies demonstrated their fitness for the task.

They captured while these young dancers were preparing to join the main procession.

Three torchbearers, young men dressed in red and green, waiting for their turn to carry the torches.

These young dancers were eagerly awaiting their turn to join the Perahera.

The torchbearer crew dressed, lit up, bathed and adorned in red.

The young drummer and the young dancers were awaiting their turn to join. Their joy manifested in this capture.

Taken during a rehearsal session where these young dancers in their teens were rehearsing for the night.

Three torch bearers were dressed in blue, waiting for their turn to carry the torches. The abstract of the remaining colleagues can be seen in the background. Due to poor light in the evening, the photo could be clearer, but the mood and the feeling of anticipation among these young men were captured. The masks provide a mystery and a surprise element in this shot. Flash photography is discouraged at this event should it disturb the elephants on parade.

Young dancers were awaiting their turn.

Four dancers were trying to pose while getting ready with their costumes. But, being boys, they could not resist having mutual fun with each other and, in the process, forgot that the cameraman could capture their free spirit.

A dancer, a drummer and a trumpet blower are essential role players in the ceremony.

One of the torchbearer crew dressed, lit up, bathed and adorned in red. The streets of the historic town of Kandy, in the centre of Sri Lanka’s southern hill country, come alive with torches of fire carried by barefoot, topless, bare-backed torchbearers. Thousands of spectators line the 2–3 kilometre route. Kerosene-fueled tongues of fire spill out from the torches held aloft in the air, miraculously avoiding the sweat-drenched skin of the torchbearers. I and others in the crowd would step back to let them pass, their torches dripping as they lit up the procession of dancers, drummers and elephants. Perhaps the sweat, made all the more profuse by the flame's heat, was also responsible for dousing any errant flame that attempted to make contact with the bearer’s glistening skin.

The senior torchbearers await their turn to join. They have decades of practice being torchbearers beginning from their adolescent years. Their children, sometimes grandchildren, are part of the crew.

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