At the end of our great trip – this time as a family – through the tropical island state of Sri Lanka, we spend a few days in the capital city of Colombo. The city is skipped by many travelers on their trip.

But that’s unjustified. There is a lot to see in Colombo. I have described most of the attractions here.

Colombo is also exciting!

We find the Vihara Maha Devi Park on the map and are curious to see what there is to see here. The park is directly opposite the Old Parliament. The street there is decorated. In the park we see elephants that are chained up or are being transported there. I ask a police officer what these decorations and the elephants are all about.

The man explains to me that there is an extraordinary Hindu festival taking place tonight in which the elephants also play a part.

Why don’t we come and see it, he asks. Yes, why not? We make a note of it and in the evening Sara and I witness the first ever Bhagavad Gita festival in Sri Lanka – it will be a fantastic memory!

This three-day festival celebrates one of the holy scriptures of Hinduism, the “Baghavad Gita“. This festival usually takes place in India. This year, Sri Lanka is hosting the festival for the first time, so many guests come from India.

This large green oasis offers a lot of peace and quiet from the hustle and bustle of the big city during the day. Sara and I return in the evening. The picture has changed. Now there is a lot going on here. While market stalls in the park sell sweets and even more sweets, we can already hear drums from the other end.

We rush through the park in the dark and come across the parade preparing to march. There are dance groups, musicians, fire-eaters, artists with large, colorful masks and decorated temple elephants.

Some acrobats do somersaults. Dancers move in peacock costumes. Others have horse costumes. In between, the elephants seem to dance.

I don’t want to imagine the terrible conditions in which the elephants are kept. But in the parade they move to the rhythm of the music.

The parade goes on for quite a while and we are amazed by the beautiful costumes of the dancers. A boy dressed as the god Surya is pulled on a cart by white horses. It is unbelievable. While the parade is only slowly getting going, Sara and I go to the front so we can watch the whole parade. A group of women are dancing to the music and Sara simply throws herself into the middle of the crowd to dance with them. The women are happy and everyone wants to take a photo with her. I quickly lose sight of Sara.

When the parade reaches the palace of the Colombo Town Hall, I see Sara sitting with the ladies in the VIP lounge and she waves me over to her. With a few intercessors and the qualification of being German, I get past the heavily armed police officers and find myself among the important guests. It turns out that Sara’s friends are a delegation from India who are now attending their festival in Sri Lanka. We are warmly invited to India. Only when the festival is over do we stroll through the warm nighttime city.

Finally, the last elephant has passed the parliament and the celebrations officially end. The Indian delegations say goodbye.

We continue to wander through the warm night. There is still a lot to see in Colombo. We especially want to visit the Buddhist Gangaramaya Temple.

Check out more of our trip through Sri Lanka as a Family!