Kataragama is one of Sri Lanka’s most powerful and atmospheric sacred places, a centre of multi-religious pilgrimage for over two thousand years, revered by Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, and the Vedda indigenous people, who consider it among their most sacred sites. The deity of Kataragama, the war god Skanda, known here simply as Kataragama Deviyo, is believed to grant wishes and protect devotees with particular efficacy, drawing crowds of pilgrims, especially during the Esala Perahera festival in July and August.