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Your Sustainable Sri Lanka DMC

At Khiri Travel Sri Lanka, a sustainable Sri Lanka DMC, we believe that traveling is different from touring and it’s not just about ticking the boxes of places you want to visit. Our in-depth knowledge and expertise will guide you to dig deeper and unveil the hidden gems this amazing island has to offer. We strongly believe in people over places and memories over selfies. From meeting a famous photographer in Colombo to exploring the Cultural Triangle with an archaeologist; from a meal at a classy restaurant in Colombo with an interesting personality to a traditional meal with a local family in Kandy; from exploring the back roads of busy Colombo on a tuk-tuk to peddling around the less-traveled streets of Jaffna in the far North, we take pride in creating experiences and moments for travelers to cherish with diverse interests.

Our Sri Lankan team consists of a happy bunch of travel addicts who would always try to find an excuse to venture out of the city for the weekend, meaning that we have the inspiration and the edge when it comes to providing first-hand knowledge and the best recommendations to our clients. Based on the three pillars – product, service and delivery – we will not settle for less than excellent. The strong relationship we have with our business partners and the positive feedback and messages of appreciation that we receive from our guests, is what gives us that spark to go the extra mile and provide our guests with unforgettable experiences that they can take home and cherish! After all, we are our country’s ambassadors and it’s therefore our duty to deliver with an unfaltering smile and unwavering determination!

Mahiru Fernando

General Manager

Mahiru@khiri.com

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The historical Sigiriya lion rock fortress is sri lanka

What Khiri Has Done In
Sri Lanka

With every travel experience, Khiri Travel Sri Lanka aims to connect its guests with Sri Lankans and create a positive impact on local communities and the environment. Jaffna in Northern Province is one of our success stories, where, following years of civil war, we were one of the very first DMCs to actively promote and open up the city to tourists. We work closely with locals and create income opportunities – for example, meals with families in their homes – which help them to raise their standard of living and contribute to the education of their children.

Sri Lanka Office

Creative Travel Solutions (Pvt) Ltd.
No. 15, Newton Seneviratne Mawatha, Boralesgamuwa, Colombo, Sri Lanka
+9411 251 7700
+9477 061 9835 (after hours only)
sales.srilanka@khiri.com

“ I cannot express enough my gratitude for such fantastic organisation in making our dream holiday come true. It has, thanks to Khiri travel, indeed been a once in a lifetime experience.”

– Jill H. | UK

When to Go and What to Do
in Sri Lanka

JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
NOV
DEC

January

Duruthu Perahera
Duruthu Perahera is celebrated to commemorate Gautam Buddhas’ first visit to Kelaniya. This is one of the greatest and most glorious cultural traditional festivals in Sri Lanka and involves a grand procession full of devotees and pilgrims that commences and culminates at the Kelaniya Raja Maha Viharaya Temple between the 25th to 27th of January.

Visitors are welcome to join, and if you are planning to, you will also witness a magnificent spectacle with decked-up and dress-up elephants, conjuring up a grand procession.

Thai Pongal
Thai Pongal is one of the oldest festivals in Sri Lanka, celebrated annually for over 1,000 years. The celebration lasts for three days, starting from the first day of Thai, which occurs in the 10th month of the Tamil calendar, usually around mid-January. This is an important festival as it focuses on honoring the Rain God Indra’ Surya’ and the cattle for a successful harvest. During the festival, you will see families decorate their homes by drawing Kolams or Rangolis with rice paste or powder in front of the houses. Also, the first harvest from the paddy field is prepared with rice, jaggery, and milk. The cattle that help farmers in their rice fields are honored by being bathed, painted with colored dyes, and given beautiful garlands that hang around their necks and horns.

February

National Day
Independence Day or Sri Lanka National Day is one of the most crucial days of the year. This is held on the 4th of February every year to commemorate the exact date of the declaim independence from colonial rule back in 1948. Independence Day is a public holiday; thus, the whole country is participating in this celebration. While you are visiting during this time, you will see the national flag everywhere, fireworks, cannon fire shows, cultural performances, and a parade that you are welcome to join.
Navam Perahera
Navam Perahera is the most colorful festival in the country, held annually in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The festival is a mix of colors, parades, and traditions. It is celebrated grandly in the form of a pageant in which hundreds of elephants are dressed and walked through the city’s streets. You will be able to experience marvelous traditional dances such as Uda Rata’, ‘Pahatha Rata’, and ‘Sabaragamuwa.’ Also, some extraordinary performances from flamethrowers, whip crackers, flag bearers, and musicians like drummers and flutists.

Navam Perahera is one of the fascinating Sri Lankan festivals, so if you are lucky enough to be in the region during this time, you should consider joining.

March

Maha Sivarathri

This is a celebration of the Hindu god Shiva also known as Padmarajarathri. Maha Sivarathri is one of the most important events for Shaivites, who make up the majority of Sri Lanka’s Hindus. On this day, devotees of Lord Shiva across the country celebrate Padmaraja Rathri (the great night of Shiva) with prayers and festivities. Maha Sivarathri represents and commemorates the marriage of Lord Shiva to his consort Parvati. The celebration begins with worshipers taking a purification bath, then carrying water pots to their local temple to bathe the Shiva statues, and finally covering them in red vermillion to symbolize purifying the soul. Some also proceed to spend the day fasting and meditating at various temples. Sri Kaileshwarar temple celebrated with music and dance performances, creating a vibrant and mesmerizing festival for locals and tourists alike.

April

Sinhala and Tamil New year

This event takes place at the beginning of the Lunar year, which usually happens in mid-April every year. The entire country is brought together with colorful festivities and a vibrant atmosphere. The celebration is amongst the largest festivals in Sri Lanka; it signals the end of the harvest season and spring.
During this time, you will see people preparing for the New Year, cleaning and decorating their houses, making traditional sweets, purchasing new clothes, and spending time with families. Locals will adorn their best outfits and participate in numerous activities such as blessing their children with herbal oils to remove any negative spirits, bursting firecrackers, and setting up competitive games in the streets for everyone. This is one of the most enlightening and joyful festivals and if you plan to visit Sri Lanka, you should experience this unforgettable celebration. However, keep in mind that this is a public holiday, and many businesses will be closed.

May

Vesak Poya Festival

Vesak is one of the most prominent Buddhist festivals in Sri Lanka. This is to celebrate and commemorate the three essential milestones – the day Buddha was born, the day he attained enlightenment, and the day he passed away into nirvana. These important religious and cultural celebrations take place on a full moon day of the lunar month of Vesak, which usually falls in May and continues for a week.

On the day of the festival, you will see this beautiful scene of colorful lanterns called Vesak Kudu filling every house, shop, and corner of the streets across the island, depicting the light of Buddha.

Even though it is celebrated across the country, cities like Colombo and Kandy are on a grand scale sparkle with lit-up pandals displaying elaborate panels from the Jataka stories. At the same time, tiny clay lamps illuminate the villages throughout the festivities of the Vesak festival. Devotees hand food and drinks to visitors and spend the days in their local temple praying and meditating. The festival is a wonderful and vibrant celebration for travelers to experience; it engulfs the whole country with joy and is the best possible time to experience the Buddhist culture. Keep in mind that alcohol and fresh meat are prohibited during the festival’s period.

June

Poson Full Moon Festival

Poson is also an important festival following the Vesak festival, holding both historical and religious significance celebrated nationwide by the Buddhists in Sri Lanka. This celebration is to commemorate the arrival of Buddhism to Sri Lanka in the 3rd century. Very similar to the Vesak festival, the event includes pandals, colorful lanterns, and stalls that represent the spirit of Buddhists filling up the houses, streets, and stores across the island. Locals make feasts and share with others and visitors. Also, you will see thousands of white-clothed pilgrims ascend to the mountain peak temple to pray.

For the best place to be during this festival, Mihintale provides the most incredible experience. The Mihintale rock outcrop is believed to be where the Buddha first preached in Sri Lanka after a meeting with King Devanampiyatissa.

July

Kandy Esala Full Moon Poya Perahera

Another significant religious festival in Sri Lanka. The Kandy Esala Perahera, or The Tooth Festival, is considered one of Sri Lanka’s oldest and most extravagant Buddhist celebrations. This week-long festival is a grand holiday that takes place in the month of Esala, around July or August. The month is believed to celebrate and pay homage to the first teaching given by Buddha after he attained enlightenment at the famous temple in Kandy.

During this period, you will see thousands of Sri Lankans travel to the central city of Kandy to watch and take part in the grand celebration. This includes more than 5,000 traditional dancers, drummers, fire jugglers, and musicians performing during various processions, all dressed and wearing elaborate traditional costumes across the city’s streets every day for a week. Meanwhile, elephants take part in the parade dressed up in rich finery and gems. The excitement, fervor, and festivities at night are an unmissable experience to enjoy the spectacle in its full glory. It is a must to see if you are in Sri Lanka within this period.

August

Vel Festival

This is one of the most significant Hindu religious and cultural festivals in Sri Lanka. Vel Festival is dedicated to commemorating the victory of the war-god Skandha over evil forces. The main celebrations are held through July or August every year in Colombo, attracting thousands of pilgrims from all over the country. During the main procession in Colombo, the Vel is paraded in a massive golden chariot which is pulled by devotees dressed in white.

The procession will start in Pettah and ends in Bambalapitiya. Accompanied the main ceremony by hundreds of dancers, musicians, and elephants dancing, chanting, shaking, and moving throughout the city streets.
During this celebration, you will be able to experience this astonishing colorful sight of the parade, hear traditional music through the sound of bells and drums, and smell the aroma of burning incense and jasmine flowers.

September

Nallur Festival

Nallur is the gigantic and spectacular festival in Jaffna that rivals the grand celebrations at the Kandy Esala Perahera. This 25-day long celebration honors the Lord Murugan. You will see various processions occur on different days throughout the island, but the majority of the festivities are held in Jaffna.
The highlight is in Nallur Kandaswamy Kovil Temple, where thousands of devotees and followers from the whole island gather. Men dress in white sarongs, and women wear their best saris, creating a vibrant and colorful atmosphere.
During this festival, there are many fantastic processions featuring juggernaut floats, performers, and spectacular chariots pulled by hundreds of sarong-clad men. At the same time, the devotees will carry the great deity on a magnificent silver throne around town.

As Sri Lanka is very culturally diverse, people of all religions celebrate every festival together, including this one.

October

Vap Full Moon Poya

Vap Full Moon Poya is a very significant Buddhist in Sri Lanka. It is a public holiday that takes place in the seventh month of the Sinhalese calendar or usually around October. There is no fixed date since the Poya dates change every year depending on the moon. The festival marks the end of Buddha’s seventh (Vassana) fasting period and retreat for the rainy season. Maya, his mother, who died a week after giving birth to Buddha, was reborn in the celestial abode of Tavatimsa as a god named Santusita. To honor his mother, he ascended to Tavatimsa heaven and preached Abhidhamma texts to the devas and deities headed Matrudeva in Tavatimsa Heaven for three months.

Vap Festival is the day that Buddha’s return to earth and signifies the end of three months of Buddhist Lent that started in July.
On the day of the event, shops and businesses will usually close, and alcohol and meat are forbidden.

November

Deepawali Festival

Deepawali, also known as the Festivals of Lights, is one of the most important celebrations in the Hindu calendar. The festival is held in November and celebrated throughout the country to commemorate Lord Rama’s defeat of Ravana, which signifies the defeat of light over darkness, good over evil, and hope over despair. The name Deepavali is the name given in southern India and is known more commonly in the north and other areas of the world as Diwali.
In Sri Lanka, the celebration mainly takes place in the Tamil community. Locals cleanse themselves by taking oil baths, wearing new clothing, visiting temples, making homemade sweets, and exchanging gifts with family and loved ones. The festival’s highlight is at night, where people light up thousands of oil lamps and burst firecrackers outside their houses and temples.

This festival is an excellent opportunity for visitors to participate and observe the traditional cultural celebration.

December

Adam’s Peak

Adam’s Peak, also known as Samanalakanda (butterfly mountain), is located in Southern Sri Lanka; Sri Pada is a 2,243 meters tall mountain site. Usually, the pilgrimage season begins from December and runs to April due to the best weather conditions. The busiest time is around January and February. The peak is covered by clouds between May and October, and the temple is closed. This is revered as a holy site as there is a footprint at the top of the mountain which is believed that the first person to come across the Sacred Footprint is Buddha by Buddhists, Lord Shiva by Hindus, and Muslims and Christians believe its Adams first step after Eden. Despite their faith, around 20,000 pilgrims and some tourism do the climb up the countless steps to the peak, visit the famous Adam’s Peak footprint, and pay their respect regardless of the diverse religion.

It is also one of the best places to be to observes the spectacular sunrise in Sri Pada.