Then comes the column from the Dalada Maligawa (Temple of the Tooth). The magnificent tusked temple elephant (known as the “tusker”) is adorned with colorful cloth, lined with tiny electric bulbs. He carries on his back an illuminated howdah with the golden karanduwa — a replica of the dagoba—shaped casket in which the sacred tooth is enshrined. The genuine Tooth Relic was once carried in the Perahera, but this is now considered unsafe and inauspicious.Then follows another Preceding pages, a turn-of-the-century Esala Perahera; caprisoned elephants; night and day dancers. Left, Raja, the tusked elephant, bears the relic casket. Above, a senior mahout.train of dozens of elephants. Behind them, attired in the garish but traditional attire of office, walks the Diyawadana Nilame, the chief trustee of the temple and the holder of the highest lay office in the island. Walking in pace behind are the other officials of the temple.