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The 2600th Sambuddhatva Jayanthi:
Tank-Dagoba concept revived
The 2600th Sri Sambuddhatva Jayanthi celebrations have caused a
revival of the development concept based on the Tank and Dagoba and the
village and temple. These celebrations have been embedded in people’s
hearts due to the peaceful environment experienced in the country, Prime
Minister D.M. Jayaratne said.
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Prime Minister D M Jayaratne with the winners |
He was addressing the gathering at the Bauddhaloka Buddhabhivandana
Cultural festival and awards ceremony held near Independence Hall
Colombo on Sunday.
The ceremony was jointly organized by the Prime Minister’s office,
Cultural Affairs Ministry and the All Ceylon Buddhist Congress.
The Prime Minister said the ending of a 30 year cruel war created the
background for people to celebrate Vesak on a grand scale. The 2600th
Sambuddhatva Jayanthi celebrations have created a Buddhist revival in
the country as never experienced before. All this possible due to the
peaceful environment prevailing in the country for which the honour and
gratitude of the nation is owed to President Mahinda Rajapaksa. If not
for his leadership the country would have been still engulfed in war.
The Prime Minister said certain sinister international forces which
could not stomach the total eradication of terrorism were now trying to
belittle the victory gained by Sri Lanka by levelling unfounded
allegations against our Security Forces. However, the 2600th Sri
Sambuddhatva Jayanthi celebrations had rallied the country together to
stand up and defeat those sinister forces.
The Prime Minister also thanked the ACBC, all temples throughout the
country, state and private sector institutions and all and sundry who
assisted in making the 2011 Vesak and 2600th Sri Sambuddhatva Jayanthi
celebrations a colossal success.
Five renowned artistes received special mementos from the Prime
Minister in recognition of the services rendered for the cause of
Buddhist devotional songs and literature and creation of Vesak Pandals.
They are vocalists Vivienne de Silva Boralessa, Vincent de Paul
Pieris, Indrani Wijebandara and Latha Walpola and Artiste Mervyn
Senaratne.
Senior Ministers Athauda Seneviratne and P Dayaratne, Secretary to
the Prime Minister S Amarasekara, Public Trustee Sarath Seneviratne and
ACBC President Jagath Sumathipala were also present. |
