14 May 2016 12:00 am
With the blessings and the guidance of Anuradhapura Atamasthanadipathi Venerable Dr. Pallegama Siriniwasa Thera, the ceremony of strewing white sand at the Anuradhapura Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi Upper Maluwa and Lower Maluwa was conducted with the patronage and the participation of Bank of Ceylon (BOC) Chairman President’s Counsel Roland C. Perera, board of directors and General Manager D.M. Gunasekera recently.
Organised by the bank’s North Central Province Assistant General Manager P.D.R. Mahanama and his team and sponsored by the bank, this act of devotion takes place annually with the participation of corporate and executive management, members of the bank’s staff and many other Buddhist devotees coming from all parts of the country who responded to the bank’s open invitation also participated to this event.
Every year thousands of Buddhists come to worship Jaya Shri Maha Bodhi daily and this act will provide a cleaner environment to those who come to worship.
The most sacred Jaya Shri Maha Bodhi is widely considered the world’s oldest historically recorded important tree. Worshiped by Buddhists all over the world, Jaya Shri Maha Bodhi was brought to Sri Lanka in 249 B.C.E. by the most venerated Sangha Mitta Theri, the daughter of Emperor Asoka of India. Both the Theri and the sapling were accorded every royal honour and received with great reverence by King Devanampiyatissa of Sri Lanka who ceremoniously planted the sapling in Anuradhapura Mahamewna Uyana, the royal garden of the king. The chronicles of Sinhalese, known as the Mahawansaya says that miracles occurred during the ceremony of planting the Jaya Shri Maha Bodhi sapling.