Maha Sanga, Namal to attend Kushinagar International Airport opening

Representatives of the Maha Sanga and Minister Namal Rajapaksa will be among dignitaries at the opening of the International Airport at Kushinagar by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 20 October.

Kushinagar is considered as the ‘Mahaparinirvana’  site of Tathagata Gautam Buddha in attaining the ultimate state of peace, and a major religious and leisure tourism attraction.  

The opening will be marked by SriLankan Airlines as the first international carrier to land in Kushinagar with 125 members of the Maha Sanga. Sports and Youth Minister Namal Rajapaksa will represent the Government at the opening, the Sri Lanka High Commission in New Delhi said yesterday. Earlier Indian media reports said President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was to attend. 

To mark the opening as well further strengthen bilateral ties two historical photographs will be presented to India by the people of Sri Lanka with the blessings Maha Sangha. The Indian Government has taken steps to install these photographs on a proposal by High Commissioner Milinda Moragoda. 

These photographs feature two murals painted by the eminent Sri Lankan painter Solias Mendis (1897-1975) in the Kelaniya Rajamaha Vihara, which is the Buddhist temple believed to be the venue of the third visit of the Buddha to Sri Lanka. 

India's greatest emperor, the Buddhist ruler Dharmashoka, sent both his son and daughter to Sri Lanka as emissaries to introduce and spread the teachings of the Buddha. The first mural depicts Arahat Bhikkhu Mahinda, son of Emperor Ashoka, delivering the message of the Buddha to King Devanampiyatissa of Sri Lanka upon arriving on the island.  

The second mural depicts the arrival to Sri Lanka of There Bhikkhuni Sanghamitta, the daughter of the emperor, bearing the right-hand branch sapling of the Sri Maha Bodhi tree under which Gautama Siddhartha attained enlightenment. The sapling which was planted in the ancient capital of Anuradhapura of Sri Lanka in 249 BCE, has survived for over two millennia. The Bo tree bears the distinction of being the oldest historically recorded living tree in the world and is revered by Buddhists worldwide.

These two historical events that occurred in the third century BCE marked the commencement of Buddhist civilisation in Sri Lanka and epitomise the strong and unbreakable relations that exist between the two neighbouring countries. 

Ambassadors of many foreign countries are also expected to be in Kushinagar on 20 October, especially of countries with Buddhist populations.