As part of the on-going state visit to Vietnam, President Anura Kumara Disanayake visited the Bai Dinh Pagoda, one of the largest Buddhist temple complexes in Southeast Asia yesterday afternoon (04), where he paid homage and received blessings.

The President received a warm and heartfelt welcome from the Vietnamese people, who had gathered near the entrance of the temple, waving the national flags of both Sri Lanka and Vietnam.

A large crowd lined the pathway within the temple grounds to catch a glimpse of the Sri Lankan President, expressing their respect and goodwill by waving the two nations’ flags.

Upon reaching the main Buddha shrine, President Disnayake paid his respects. The resident monks then chanted Seth Pirith and invoked blessings on the President.

Subsequently, the President paid homage at the Sri Maha Bodhi sapling on the temple grounds, a sacred branch from the Sri Maha Bodhi in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, which was gifted to the Bai Dinh Pagoda and planted there in 2023.

The outer wall constructed around the sacred Bodhi under the technical guidance of Sri Lanka’s Central Cultural Fund was also officially declared open by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake on this occasion.

Later the President planted a sapling of the sacred Sal tree within the temple premises, and observed the commemorative plaque marking the occasion.

As a gesture of reverence, President Disanayake presented a memento to the Chief Incumbent of the temple.

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment, and Tourism, Vijitha Herath, along with other members of the Sri Lankan delegation, were also present for the occasion.

(President’s Media Division)

Journalists and civil society members gathered in Jaffna on April 28 to mark 20 years since the assassination of renowned Tamil journalist and editor Dharmeratnam “Taraki” Sivaram.
The commemoration, jointly organised by the Jaffna Press Club, the Eastern Province Journalists Association, and the Professional Online Journalists Association, took place at the memorial for murdered journalists on Main Street, Jaffna.

Candles were lit and floral tributes were laid before portraits of Sivaram and fellow journalist Selvarajah Rajivarman, who was also murdered on the same date two years later.

Sivaram, a former senior editor at TamilNet, was abducted in Colombo on April 28, 2005 and was later found murdered near Parliament. Despite international condemnation and demands for accountability, his killers have never been brought to justice.

Ahead of the commemoration, a media briefing was also held at the Jaffna Press Club.

Following the ten-day “Siri Dalada Vandanawa” religious veneration, a special clean-up operation was carried out at the Kandy Lake by the Clean Sri Lanka Secretariat in collaboration with the Sri Lanka Navy.

During this operation, plastic bottles, packaging materials and other waste that had been discarded into the lake were removed, restoring the Kandy Lake to its natural state.

The operation was led by Commander Weerasekara and Captain Charitha Gunawantha of Sri Lanka Navy, with the participation of teams from Clean Sri Lanka, the Department of Irrigation and the Department of Archaeology. The initiative also received strong support from volunteer groups and members of the public.

Kandy Lake has long been a major attraction for both local and international tourists visiting Kandy. However, the accumulation of plastic and other waste materials in the lake poses a serious threat to water sources and aquatic life.

Under the Clean Sri Lanka programme, special attention has been given to protecting the environment, with the aim of fostering an environmental, social and moral awakening within the country and thereby uplifting society to a higher level. A series of initiatives have been launched to cultivate a sense of civic responsibility among the public and to promote the maintenance of a cleaner, waste-free environment.

Accordingly, the Clean Sri Lanka programme was actively implemented across the Kandy city area throughout the past ten days, coinciding with the “Siri Dalada Vandanawa”.

(President’s Media Division)