Birthday blessings

A special religious ceremony was held to mark the 69th birthday of Gangaramaya Temple Chief Incumbent Ven. Galaboda Gnanissara Thero yesterday at the temple, attended by President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe.

The ceremony consisted of a ‘Kiri Amma Dana’ for 69 Kiri Ammawaru, mid-day almsgiving for 108 monks, offering of alms bowls and mats to temples, donation of uniforms to 1,000 Sunday school children, donation of dry rations to 100 families in rural areas, donation of monetary scholarships to six underprivileged students from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, and a bodhi pooja – Pix by Nisal Baduge