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| Monday, 30 December 2002 |
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by M. Nelson Piyaratne, Kataragama group correspondent Devotees participating in the annual fire-walking ceremony in Kataragama Maha Devalaya are inconvenienced due to a lack of place to stay during the 15 days of the festival, S. N. Mohotti chief devotee of fire-walking and the president of "International Organisation of Fire-Walking Devotees", told the Daily News. He said about 500 devotees participate in the annual fire walking at Kataragama. Those devotees comprise Sinhala, Tamil and foreigners and it is an example of communal harmony, he said. Mohotti said that these devotees are from various parts of the island and they have to participate in the perahera daily till the festival ends. During this period all the devotees have to stay under trees in the sacred area. It is a problem for the women devotees as they don't have a place even to change. When it is raining the devotees have to run helter skelter in search of shelter with their bag and baggage. Mohotti said that his organisation has conducted fire-walking under his leadership in nine countries such as Japan, Indonesia, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Pakistan and India under the devotion of God Kataragama and made audiences spellbound. Those countries have provided them all facilities including food and lodging whereas in his own country they don't have even a shelter, he said. Mohotti had informed the Kataragama Basnayake Nilame, Nilanga Dela Bandara, Kataragama Divisional Secretary, R. M. Hemachandra and chairman of Kataragama Pradeshiya Sabha, Asoka Wickremasinghe who paid their kind attention to this matter. But they are helpless as most of the land space in Kataragama has been vested with the UDA. Therefore Mohotti appeals to the Central Government to find a solution to this matter. |
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