Police have issued a guide to devotees attending the special exposition of the sacred Tooth Relic – the ‘Siri Dalada Vandanawa’ from tomorrow (April 18) onwards.
The event will take place from April 18th to April 27th. Tomorrow the exposition will be held from 3.30pm – 5.30pm. From April 19 – 27 it will be held from 12 noon – 5.30pm.
The event is expected to attract around 02 million devotees and a special security plan has been implemented with over 10,000 police personnel deployed. In addition, personnel from the Police Special Task Force, Police K9 Division, Sri Lanka Army, Sri Lanka Navy, and Sri Lanka Air Force have also been deployed.
Police have also announced parking locations where devotees can park their vehicles and use dedicated public transport to proceed to the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic.
Parking Locations:
Vehicles from Gampola and Colombo should stop at the Getambe Junction and can be parked at the Getambe Grounds and along the Gannoruwa Road.
Vehicles from the Kurunegala-Katugastota Road should stop at the 4th mile post.
Vehicles from the Madawala Road should stop at the Polgolla Mahinda Rajapaksa Theatre premises.
Vehicles from Matale should stop at the Ra-Kade Junction, with parking available at Dharmasoka Mawatha, while light vehicles can park at the P. T. Ranjan Grounds.
Vehicles from Mahiyanganaya using the 18 Bend Road should park at the Pallekele Bandaranaike School Grounds.
Vehicles from Badulla should park in Gurudeniya.
Private vehicles will not be allowed to park in Kandy City.
Car parking will also be available at:
Car Park next to the Vevalpitiya Grounds (Light Vehicles)
Sahas Uyana Car Park (Light Vehicles)
Getambe Mahanama Ground (Light Vehicles)
Opposite Mahaiyyawa Cemetery (Buses)
Dharmashoka Bend to Japan-Kade Junction (Buses)
KMC Car Park (Light Vehicles)
Rajapihilla Bus Parking (Buses)
Karaliya Car Park (Light Vehicles)
Bogambara Prison (Buses)
Bogambara Grounds (Buses)
Thennekumbura Junction to Haragama Road (Buses)
SWRD Bandaranaike Mawatha (Buses)
Police have stated that long-distance buses operating via Kandy, as well as bus services originating from Kandy, will operate as usual. These buses will be permitted to stop at the Raja Pihilla Bus Stand and opposite the Bogambara Grounds. However, short-distance buses will not be permitted to stop and park within Kandy City.
Alternative routes
Police have introduced alternative routes for vehicles passing through Kandy during the aforementioned period.
Vehicles from Kurunegala and Matale heading to Colombo and Nuwara Eliya via Kandy can proceed to the Gohagoda Road from the Katugastota Bridge, head to Peradeniya, and then proceed to Colombo and Kandy.
Vehicles from the Colombo-Kandy Road and from Nuwara Eliya heading towards Kurunegala, Matale, and Mahiyanganaya can use the Peradeniya-Gohagoda Road.
Vehicles heading to Badulla can enter Dharmashoka Mawatha from the Mahaiyyawa Tunnel and proceed to Thennekumbura.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the National Centre for Good Governance of India (NCGG) and Sri Lanka Institute of Development Administration (SLIDA) was signed during the State Visit of President of Sri Lanka, H.E. Anura Kumara Disanayaka to India in December 2024 for training and capacity building of 1500 Sri Lankan civil service officers over a period of five years.
The first program under the MoU was successfully held at NCGG from 21 April to 02 May 2025, and was attended by 41 officers. Based on the request of the Government of Sri Lanka, the theme of the program was ‘digitization in governance’. The program featured a series of sessions focused on key areas such as digital service delivery, digital public infrastructure, financial inclusion through digital payments, and innovations in public grievance redressal systems. Senior officials and domain experts delivered presentations on flagship Indian initiatives in the digital domain, including Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission, e-Office, GeM, Aadhaar, PM Gati Shakti, among others.
At an interaction session with participants in the inaugural program organized on 08 May 2025 at SLIDA, the High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka, H.E. Santosh Jha underscored that capacity building is an important pillar of the development cooperation between the two countries, with Sri Lanka being among the largest recipients of scholarships and capacity building initiatives offered by India. He highlighted that, demonstrating India’s continued commitment to enhancing capacity-building opportunities for Sri Lankans, Prime Minister of India had announced additional training avenues to 700 Sri Lankan citizens annually during his recent State visit. In that context, the High Commissioner said that the participants in the first NCGG-SLIDA programme also represented the first set of Sri Lankan nationals to receive training as part of the significantly enhanced capacity-building endeavour of India that will now benefit 1000 Sri Lankans annually.
The interaction session was also attended by Secretary, Ministry of Public Administration, Provincial Councils and Local Government, Mr S. Aloka Bandara; Director General of SLIDA, Mr A.V. Janadara; senior officials and faculty members of SLIDA; among others.
In view of the highly positive feedback from the participants in the inaugural NCGG-SLIDA program, based on request from SLIDA, a second program on the same theme under the MoU is now being planned for another batch of around 40 officers for early June 2025.
Another Special Forces (SF) soldier who was onboard the SLAF Bell 212 helicopter that crashed into the Maduru Oya Reservoir this morning (May 09) has succumbed to his injuries while receiving treatment at the hospital.
This brings the death toll from the fatal accident to six.
Six other armed forces personnel, who sustained injuries in the incident, are currently receiving treatment at the hospital.
(Previous news 2025 May 09 – 11.31.a.m.)
5 dead in Bell 212 crash
Five military personnel have been confirmed dead in the crash of a Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) Bell 212 helicopter into the Maduru Oya Reservoir earlier this morning (May 09. According to the SLAF Spokesperson Group Captain Eranda Geeganage, the deceased include three members of the Sri Lanka Army’s Special Forces and two Air Force personnel.
The aircraft was carrying a total of 12 individuals, including six Army Special Forces members, two Air Force Regiment Special Forces personnel, two other Air Force members, and two pilots.
The Election Commission has instructed all candidates who contested the 2925 Local Government (LG) Elections to submit their campaign income and expenditure reports on or before May 28.
A statement by the Commission emphasized that candidates are required to prepare and submit their financial disclosures in line with the provisions of the Election Expenditure Regulation Act No. 03 of 2023. These reports must be handed over to the Returning Officers of the respective electoral districts.
Election Commissioner General Saman Sri Ratnayake stated that this process is part of the Commission’s efforts to ensure transparency and accountability in the electoral process.