Sri Lanka values friendship with Cambodia: President
Wednesday, 27 November 2013 00:28
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President Mahinda Rajapaksa said any nation needs friends and that the mutual friendship between nations helps countries to accelerate progress. “Cambodia is such a friend and we are ready to extend all possible help to friends such as Cambodia,” he said after declaring open the newly constructed Cambodian Buddhist Traditional Centre yesterday (26) at Upper Bomiriya, Kaduwela.
“While we are not ready to bow down to the forces that betray our motherland, we as a government are prepared to give every possible assistance to a friendly nation like Cambodia to enhance education and knowledge of religion,” he stated.
The President noted that the new centre would be of great help to Cambodian monks coming to Sri Lanka to study Buddhism. “Our venerable monks are dedicated to spreading the teachings of the Buddha to the world and I notice similar commitment in monks from Buddhist countries such as Cambodia. We are indeed proud of the great service rendered by our monks.”
Referring to ancient ties with Cambodia, he said that bilateral relations with countries like Cambodia and Laos have resulted in spreading of Buddhism to those countries. Cambodia and Sri Lanka, like Thailand, Myanmar and Laos, are traditional Therawada Buddhist countries. The bondage, common interests and understanding among these countries have always been great.
The Cambodian Buddhist Traditional Centre has been built on a land donated by Indra Rodrigo Munasinghe and is governed by a trust. “Cambodia has an illustrious history like us. During the time of kings like Yaso Varman and Jaya Barman, Cambodian Buddhists developments became world famous. They gave all support and upliftment to Buddhism in every aspect. A famous Indian historian, Professor Majumdar, in his book ‘2,500 years of Buddhism’ reveals the facts and contributions of those kings,” the trust said in a statement.
“It is significant to note that among the Lord Gautama Buddha’s 80 Maha Sravakas, Arahat Puma’s mother was from Cambodia. It is recorded in ‘Divyawadanaya’. Furthermore, in Madjima Nikaya, Sutta ‘Assala’ explains about the lifestyle of Cambodian people,” it further stated.
The Cambodian Buddhist Traditional Centre project was successfully completed with the initial support rendered by Dr. Omalpe Sobhitha Nayaka Thera.
“This amazing and wonderful display of architecture is from Cambodian Buddhist tradition and the world famous ‘Ankhowat’ style has been adopted to create wonderful architecture by the Cambodian workers and designers who worked day and night quite admirably.
“At present, more than 150 Cambodian Buddhist monks are studying in Sri Lanka and Centre Executive Director Ven. Hun Khamra (Kashyapa) and his fellow monks have been rendering a yeomen service for the success of the project. It is pertinent to mention that when Dr. Omalpe Sobhitha Thero served for the UNDP in Cambodia as an Environment Advisor he was able to find the talent in that country and thanks to him, Ven. Kashypa and four other student monks, among others, are in Kaduwela,” the trust said.
