Sambuddhathva Jayanthi commemoration:

Samadhi Buddha statues to Lankan missions

Rasika SOMARATHNA

A programme to hand over Samadhi Buddha Statues to Sri Lankan foreign missions to mark the Sri Sambuddhathva Jayanthi will begin today.

The Buddha statues will be escorted in a vehicle procession starting 7.00 am from the ancient Matara Bodiya. They would be escorted to the Independence Square in Colombo amidst pirith chanting by the Maha Sangha.

The programme is a joint effort by the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) and the Presidential Secretariat.

The Buddha statues will be placed at Sri Lankan foreign missions. It is being implemented under President Mahinda Rajapaksa's guidance with Foreign Employment Promotion and Welfare Minister Dilan Perera in charge of the proceedings.

According to the SLBFE, facilities have been arranged to enable devotees to pay homage to the procession escorting Buddha statues at various locations during its journey from Matara to Colombo.

At the Independence Square the SLBFE employees have arranged a number of religious events including a Bhakthi gee recital in the evening.

This would be followed by an all night pirith chanting by the Maha Sangha to invoke blessings on the President, the Sri Lankan migrant workers and the public.