The annual Kataragama Esala Festival commenced last night with the inaugural Perahera that set off from the Kataragama Devala and proceeded to the Walliamma Devala and returned to the Karatagama Devala amid the chanting of pirith. The final Randoli Perahera will be held on July 15, 2011 and the festival would end with the water-cutting ceremony in the Menikganga in the early hours of the following day. The Basnayake Nilame of the Kataragama Devala, Shashindra Rajapaksa, said arrangements had been to provide adequate facilities to pilgrims. A large crowd including devotees from the North and the East who made a long journey through Yala have already arrived in Kataragama. Meanwhile four schools in the Wellawaya Education Zone have been closed till July 18, 2011 to provide accommodation to police personnel on special duty during the festival. A spokesman for the Uva Province Education Ministry said that the Kataragama National School, Detagamuwa Vidyalaya, Sellakataragama Vidyalaya and the Gopthamigama Vidyalaya have been closed.
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