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Rituals, Cities and Heterotopia: An Exploratory Study on the Significance of Dalada Perahera to the City Morphology of Kandy, Sri Lanka

Part 2 Dissertation 2021
Santhusha Neligama
 City School of Architecture | Sri Lanka
Rituals, Cities and Heterotopia has been researched with the passion and enthusiasm given for the Dalada Perahera, a grand Sri Lankan festival/ritual that has been conducted for the past 1711 years. During the period of this event, it takes the city of Kandy to a different dimension altogether creating a Heterotopia.

The research explores the city in the past during the ritual in comparison to the city in the present context and reveals that the morphological changes taken place are detrimental for the spirit of the spatial transformation. This was explored at a macro level in relation to the cosmic relevance and ritual circumambulation, and at a micro level in relation to the experiential quality and the permeability of the built morphology towards the event. Thus
generating the key factors for the notion of a heterotopia.

The above was studied via literature evidences, pictorial comparisons, mapping and interviews. The analysis reveals that the direct links between the event and the host city are weak. The hierarchy of the city morphology acts as a driving force for the perahera. Hence, reviving it towards supporting the spatial transformation has been a point to consider for the City Development Plan of Kandy.
Santhusha Neligama
Tutor(s)
Rashika Abeyawardana
Ranjith Alahakoon
Chaminda Munasinghe
Jeewanthi Senadheera
Tanya Wickramasinghe
2021
Rituals, Cities and Heterotopia - An Exploratory Study on the Significance of Dalada Perahera to the City Morphology of Kandy, Sri Lanka
The ritual – Dalada Perahera the only festival believed to include deities, mankind and majestic elephants
Configuration of Heterotopia and how a festival/ritual can be observed as a Heterotopia
The city at a macro scale during the last monarch – Cosmic relevance and spatial structure was a key factor for the ritual circumambulation
The ceremonial gateway connecting ‘heaven’ and ‘earth’ and the ritual circumambulation along each street of the city to form ‘a symbolic fortress’ to bless the city.
Vertical porosity of the ritual aided by the natural landscape.
Comparison of streets in the past and present. This enabled to explore the permeability of streets towards the ritual in terms of enclosure, porosity, scale and coherence to analyse how the built morphology has weakened supporting the heterotopia during t
Street width maintained for 3 elephants to walk abreast. However, with lack of a proper roof line and new façade appearances unsympathetic to the ritual, the heterotopic effect is in the process of loosening
Comparison of the street porosity for the experiential quality – The viewing angle, illumination of fire torches (lighting quality) and the echo of the classical drum beat (sound reverberation) in the past, present and the future
Despite all drastic changes taken place along streets at a micro level, the formation of symbolic fortress at a macro scale still can be observed even after 1711 years.
Façade recommendation for the future – The use of colour, and lighting is essential for the glorification of the heterotopia to retain the spirit of the spatial transformation.
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