ABDUL RAZZAk UDAYAR
KANDY : The “Siri Dalada Wandanawa”, the special exposition of the Sacred Tooth Relic, which allows the public to venerate and pay their respects to the Sacred Tooth Relic, commenced Friday,April (18) after 16 years, with the participation of President Anura Kumara Disanayake.
Marking the inauguration ceremony, the President placed first floral tribute to the Sacred Tooth Relic and with the President paying homage to the Sacred Tooth Relic, the “Siri Dalada Wandanawa” officially commenced, allowing the devoted public to pay their respects to the Sacred Tooth Relic.
At the request of the President, the “Siri Dalada Wandanawa” will be held under the guidance of the Chief Prelates of the Malwathu and Asgiri Chapters, and under the direction of the Diyawadana Nilame of the historic Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic in Kandy. The event will continue for 10 days, from today until April 27.
A large number of devotees from all over the country arrived at the Temple of the Tooth Relic on Friday, (18) to pay their homage. Today, the public will have the opportunity to venerate the Sacred Tooth Relic until 5:00 p.m. From Saturday, April (19) onwards, the public will be allowed to worship daily from 12 noon to 5:00 p.m.
The event was also graced by Minister of Buddhasasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs, Hiniduma Sunil Senevi along with other Ministers and Ambassadors and High Commissioners representing Vietnam, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Nepal, the Netherlands, India, Myanmar, Palestine, France, New Zealand, Cuba, Egypt, Japan, the United Kingdom, Thailand, Canada and South Korea, Public officials, Members of the security forces and a large number of local and foreign devotees were also present
There are three new access routes introduced to manage the anticipated influx of worshippers. These include:
Entry from D. S. Senanayake Veediya to the Temple entrance
Access from Ratubokkuwa via Sangharaja Mawatha to the main entrance
Entry from Ratubokkuwa through temple grounds to the main entrance
The safety of the Hill City, has been strengthened as an extensive security and traffic plan has been rolled out by Sri Lanka Police, including public searches, roadblocks, and restricted vehicular access to Kandy city to ease congestion. Special parking zones have also been designated for the convenience of the motorists.
The road that leads to Kandy from Katugastota has been cramped with thousands of devotees from the point of the tunnel at Mahiyyawa. They are safely seated or kept lying along the pavement of the left side of the road (Vidyartha College side) with the help of hundreds of police officers who are on a special assignment to cover this period of 10 days.
A large number of devotees who have come from different parts of the country easily use the washroom facilities that are readily offered by the Nakshabandiya Mosque located near Vidyartha College along the busy Kandy Katugasttoa route that leads to many distant locations such as Jaffna, Mannar, Trincomalee, Vavuniya, Anuradhapura etc.
The Secretary of the Trustee Board of this mosque M.N.M. Rifas told the Colombotimes that their board unanimously decided to keep the mosque open round the clock to help the devotees as it is the duty of Muslims to help the devotees who have come a long way to witnessed this exposition. The Chief Priest of the mosque, Moulavi A.M. Nishath pointed out, it is the bounden duty to help our visitors and above all, a Muslim should show his virtue of hospitality and fulfill the needs of others in times in this manner.
I.K.S. Dissanayake, SI of the Division of the Promotion of the Environment of the Gokeralla Police Station in the Kurunagala district who has come to Kandy on a special duty expressed his satisfaction as everything is nicely arranged to help the general public to have a glimpse at the Tooth Relic after a period of 16years or so. The city of whole Kandy is seen in pure white as most of the devotees are seen clad in white or close to colour of this purity.
