President joins in aluth sahal mangalyaya

President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday offered a bowl of rice for the aluth sahal mangalyaya to be held at the Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi in Anuradhapura today and tomorrow.

The offering was made at a ceremony held at Temple Trees. The rice has been milled from the ma wee harvest gathered from paddy lands in the Nilwala ganga scheme in the Southern Province which had earlier been left fallow for almost 25 years.

A Presidential Media Unit release said this is the first time a Head of State had participated in this aluth sahal mangalyaya conducted by the Agrarian Services Department for the last 41 years.

Motorcades carrying newly harvested rice for the aluth sahal mangalyaya from four provinces are due to converge on Anuradhapura today. Farmers along these routes will be able to offer a portion of their harvest for this festival.