Srilanka, April 23 -- With five days passed since the start of the Siri Dalada Vandanava, hundreds of thousands of devotees had the rare opportunity to witness and pay homage to the Sacred Tooth Relic.

This year's event, held after 16 years, has drawn an unprecedented number of pilgrims, surpassing even the Esala Perahera crowds in scale and devotion. Signs of this immense turnout were evident as early as April 16 - two days before the official commencement when thousands began lining up in Kandy to secure a place in the long queues.

To ensure the safety of both the Sacred Tooth Relic and the massive crowds, more than 8,500 Police officers have been deployed across Kandy, supported by the Police Special Task Force (STF), intelligence u...