Vel

Vriis the Hindu festival held in Colombo during July or sometimes August to venerate the trident of Skanda, the god of war. The main event is a great gilded temple chariot which contains the ayudha(weapons) of this fierce god, headed by
two humped black bulls but actually drawn by hundreds of devotees dressed in the egalitarian white waist cloth and shawl and smeared with holy ash. It's quite impossible to recognise some ot'Colombo's wealthiest Hindus amongst them.

Every year the vel of Skanda is carried in a procession that starts at the Sea Street kovil inthe Petlah districi of Colombo and moves onto the Bambalapitiya kovil 5 km (3 miles) away and allcmatively each year to the Wellawatta kovil. The temple whose turn it is goes to town with gaudy stalls selling souvenirs, sugar cane and sugary sweets of many hues. Don't worry if you are Late to catch the vel procession; the 6.5 - km (4-mile) journey proceeds at a snail's pace and takes a whole day, which makes it fabulous for the curious and a hideous slog tor the Hindus dragging the cart.

Hindu festivities are at their most vibrant in the Jaffna are during this same season; the Nagapooshani Ammal on the island of Nainativu, the Perumal and the Sellasannathi at Thondamannar, where you can see some eyepopping firewalking by devotees, are just som of a host of extraordinarily colourful festivals For the time being at least, the visitor to Lanka will miss these. But a smaller one, lhe Kali Festival at Munneswaram near Chilaw is entertaining and the Uddapu and Mundel festivals in July has some mean firewalking.