sri lanka festival - christmas festival

Christmas festival
                     Christmas in Sri Lanka is celebrated in the true Lankan style. Although the majority of Sri Lankan population in Buddhists and Christians make up only 7% of the total population of the country, Christmas in Sri Lanka is celebration with great enthusiasm. The first sign of Christmas celebrations in Sri Lanka dates back to many centuries, when Sri Lanka (Ceylon) was ruled by Portuguese from 1505 to 1650 AD, followed by the Dutch and the British who ruled Sri Lanka from 1658 to 1796 and 1815 to 1948, respectively. Here are some more interesting facts about Christmas celebrations in Sri Lanka.
                                                                                            Preparations for Christmas in Sri Lanka start several weeks prior to the festival. The festive sound of firecrackers at the dawn of December 1st is the first sign of intimation that Christmas in round the corner. This is the time when every Christian household in the country performs the first ritualistic task of the festive season. Christmas spirit can be seen everywhere- from small wayside boutiques to huge shopping centers during the celebration of Christmas in Sri Lanka. Christmas tree are beautifully decorated and lit up in most of the shopping complexes and every Christian household in the country.

  

sri lanka Fesitival-Deepavali Fesitival

Deepavali Fesitival

                    Deepavali Festival is mostly celebrated by the Sri Lankan Tamils. Deepavali is also known as Diwali in both India and Sri Lanka. Deepavali Festival means many rituals and lighting off small lamps to banish off all shadows from one’s house and life. It is also termed as the Festival of Lights. This festival has a sublime significance, for it symbolizes the victory of good forces over evil forces. The lamps are symbolic of this celebration and hope for an bright and prosperous future. Fireworks are add to the glow and color and aura of the festival. In India, the northern part calls it Diwali and the southern part of the country knows this festival as Deepavali. As Sri Lankans Hindus (mostly Tamils), follow mainly the customs of South India, Festival of Lights is known as Deepavali Festival on the island too. 

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Sri lanka festival -Ramzan festival

Ramzan festival

                      Ramazan, which ends during April, is a month in every 2year set aside for fasting, a religious obligation compulsory for very devout follower of Islam.In this month, with the coming of every dawn, not a morsel of food, liquid or solid, will pass the lips of a Muslim observing the first, until the sun sets over the horizon. In this period, while going about his activities a Muslim is expected to devote his time to prayer and meditation.In Sri Lanka it is not unusual to see large groups of people gathering at the doorways of mosques around the country. Muslims are clearly identifiable by there white lace caps or with a handkerchief covering their heads and kept in place with a knot tied at the back. You can also see them hurrying in the half light of the approaching dawn for the subah or the first prayer of the day. Usually it is just before this prayer that Muslims partake of the only meal for the day. breaking their fast after magrib, the evening prayer. This ritual will go on for 30 days.
During this time, in the evenings after prayers, it's not unusual to see people gathering on the Galle Face Green eating ice cream and relaxing after their day's fast.
Muslim homes are a hive of activities in the evenings; many inviting their friends and relatives to partake of the breaking of the fast with them. A delicious selection of sweetmeats will be on the table for the children but it seems to hold a fascination for many an adult as well.
Another common sight is the movement of small groups of people, usually composed of women and children, asking for alms. this is because it is compulsory for every Muslim to give alms during the month of Ramazan.There are two forms of charity at this time; sadaquat-ul-fitr which is where the rich give food to the poor and zakat-ul-mal where they give one third to one tenth of the value of their property like gold, silver, flocks or grain.

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sri lanka Festival-Vesak

Vesak Festival
                 
                     Vesak, the most important day in the Buddhist calendar around the world, celebrates the birth, enlightenment and passing away of Gautam Buddha. Its significance lies in it being associated with the Buddha and His universal message of peace. Though festivals were celebrated since long around the time around which Vesak is celebrated today, yet, the formal decision to mark it as the Buddha Day was taken at the first Conference of the World Fellowship of Buddhists (W.F.B.). This conference was held at Sri Lanka in 1950 and the resolution adopted here read,
"That this Conference of the World Fellowship of Buddhists, while recording its appreciation of the gracious act of His Majesty, the Maharaja of Nepal in making the full-moon day of Vesak a Public Holiday in Nepal, earnestly requests the Heads of Governments of all countries in which large or small number of Buddhists are to be found, to take steps to make the full-moon day in the month of May a Public Holiday in honour of the Buddha, who is universally acclaimed as one of the greatest benefactors of Humanity.     
          
                                                                                                

sri lanka Places of Worship -Temple of the tooth (Dalada Maligawa) - Kandy

Temple of the tooth (Dalada Maligawa) - Kandy
                       The Sacred Tooth Relic, which is housed at the Dalada Maligava in Kandy , is the most precious and venerated object for Buddhist in Sri Lanka . It is treated with the same reverence and dignity as a living Buddha. 

The Tooth is believed to be a left incisor of the Buddha. It is said that Khema Thera retrieved this relic from the Buddha's funeral pyre and handed it over to King Bambadath of Dantha, Kalinga. It continued to be honoured and venerated under the many kings that followed. During the era of King Guhaseeva, a king of neighboring city waged war to claim ownership of the relic. Guhaseeva, who was fearful of the Sacred Tooth Relic falling in to enemy hands, instructed his daughter Princess Hemamala and her husband Price Dantha to smuggle it to Sri Lanka . So the relic arrived in Sri Lanka hidden inside the Princess' hair and was handed over to Bhikku residing at Meghagiri Vihara. The Bhikku informed then the king of Anuradhapura , Krithisena Mevan of it , and the king received the Tooth Relic with much pomp and pageantry and built special premises to house it. 

  

It remained in Anuradhapura for over 700 years and removed to Polonnaruwa when the kindom saw a foreign invasion. The relic was moved each time a new kingdom was established and special premises were built to accommodate it. It moved from Anuradhapura to Polonnaruwa and thereafter to Dmbadeniya, Kurunegala, Gampola, Sri Jayawardenapura and Kotte before making its way to Kandy . 

sri lanka Places of Worship-kalutara bodhiya

 kalutara bodhiya                 

           Kalutara is historically important due to the fact that it was one of the 32 places indicated by Arahant Mahinda Thera to the king Devananpiya Tissa in the 2nd century B.C. as a place where one of the thirty two saplings of the sacred Sri Maha Bodhi tree in Anuradhapura be planted, to which the King extended his patronage. It is recorded in the Sinhala Maha Bodhi Wansa that until such time when the maritime provinces were subjugated by the Portuguese in 1505 A.D., the historic Kalutara Bodhi exited intact. In the 16th century this sacred site was turned in to a Portuguese fort. Though no harm is supposed to have done to the Bodhi it was not venerated by the people during that period. It was after the planting of a Bodhi in lower terrace of Pahala Maluwa by an Indian Prince from the Pandya country named Wickrama Pandya in 1042 A.D. that the public began to venerated and consider the site as a sacred place. This prince from Indian became a viceroy in the Kalutara area.

After the Portuguese, the Dutch too use of the present upper terrace or the uda maluwa area as a camp followed by the British as well, subsequently.

sri lanka Places of Worship- Kotte Raja Maha Viharaya

Kotte Raja Maha Viharaya                     

                         The sacred Tooth Relic of the Buddha is the all-encompassing symbol of the Sinhala nation and has been so ever since it was brought to the island by Prince Dantha and Princess Hemamala. It has always brought consolation, sanctity and security to the nation. It was the premier significance of legitimacy for the sovereign. Monarchs staked their lives in safeguarding it and would-be usurpers of the throne coveted it. Even today, the mere thought of the Tooth Relic safe inside the Dalada Maligawa in Mahanuwara infuses a feeling of security among the devout, that as long as it exists, things will not degenerate beyond the point of no return. It tells us that the teachings of Lord Buddha are alive and therefore that the Enlightened One himself is among us, protecting us with the Dhamma.

Today, the Tooth Relic is invariably associated with the Esala Perahera. Traditionally, however, the "perahera" was done wherever the seat of royal power happened to be. And so it was that almost six centuries ago a "Dalada Perahera" was held in Kotte, the capital during the reign of Parakrama Bahu the sixth. During his reign, from 1415 to 1467, it is said, the Tooth Relic was placed in a three storied palace, the location of which is yet unknown.

sri lanka Places of Worship-sri lanka Gangaramaya - Colombo

Gangaramaya - Colombo

Situated 61 Sri Jinaratana Road, Hunupitiya, Colobmo 2. The Temple developed modern period, after 1815 CE. This Buddhist temple includes several imposing buildings and is situated not far from the placid waters of Beira Lake on a plot of land that was originally a small hermitage on a piece of marshy land. It has the main features of a Vihara (temple), the Cetiya (Pagada) the Bodhitree, the Vihara Mandiraya, the Simamalaka and the Relic Chamber. In addition, a museum, a library, a residential hall, a three storeyed Pirivena, educational halls and an alms hall are also on the premises. more images

   

sri lanka Places of Worship- Bellanwila Raja Ma Viharaya

 Bellanwila Raja Ma Viharaya

                Situated Bellanwila, Colombo district. In the temple-studded paradise island of Sri Lanka, Bellanwila Rajamaha Vihara occupies a special place. This temple is considered so sacred that there is a long cherished belief that a child who treads the ground under the shade of its scared Bodhi-tree will never fail in life.





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sri lanka Places of Worship-Kelaniya Raja Maha Viharaya - Colombo

Kelaniya Raja Maha Viharaya - Colombo

                               

Situated about six miles from Colombo, set within a sacred area of around ten acres, the Kelani Vihara stands beside the Kelani river as evidence of a Buddhist tradition in this country.Most sacred worshipping places of the Buddhists of Sri Lanka since it is a site made hallowed by the visit of Lord Buddha. In the past Kelaniya itself was a large city and the Kelani Raja Maha Viharaya was one of the largest and one of the most beautiful temples of Sri Lanka.The spot on which this vihara stands derived its sanctity in the Buddhist era 2531, with the third visit of the Buddha to this country.The fact that the Buddha visited the spot on a Wesak day on the invitation of King Maniakkhika is given in the historic epics of Sri Lanka.The Naga King, according to these chronicles had invited the Buddha to a repast at this spot which following the expounding of the Dhamma was consecrated and on which the King had built a vehera wherein the Buddha's hair and the utensils use at the repast together with the seat on which the Buddha sat were buried. 

However with the advent of time and the destruction of the vihara by the foreign invaders has resulted in the original dageba being lost today.

Kaleniya Vihara however, received its hallowed status and became a place of Buddhist worship after venerable Mahinda brought the Dhamma to this country. According to the Mahawansa King Devanampiyatissa's brother Uttiya renovated the vihara for the first time. He is also said to have built the first Quaters of the Monks (Sanghawasa) there. Historical evidence shows that the Kelaniya Vihara was at its highest glory during the Kotte Era. By the time the Portuguese conquered the country considerable land had been donated by the kings to the Kelaniya Vihara, and when in 1510 the Portuguese entered and destroyed the secret temple. They had confiscated this land preventing Buddhists from worshiping at the temple. Restrictions placed on the development of Kelaniya were reduced with the advent of the Dutch. They in 1767 perhaps in order to gain King Kirthi Sri Rajasingha's good will permitted him to develop Kelaniya Vihara. Thus the reconstruction of the Vihara was undertaken by the then Chief incumbent Venerable Mapitigama Buddharakkhita. He was provided with funds from the treasury. The King was so overjoyed at the way the work was handled that further grants of lands had been given to the vihara. Note:

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