BOC conducts sand paving ceremony at Anuradhapura Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi
The Bank of Ceylon conducted its annual ceremony of laying clean white sand replacing soiled sand which is known as “weli athireeme pinkama” at the Anuradhapura Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi “Meda Maluwa” and “Pahala Maluwa” that is considered a sacred act to invoke blessings of “most noble Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha”.
As for this time the objective of conducting this act of devotion is to invoke blessings on the country, its people and the bank.
This year too, the ceremony was organised with the guidance of the Atamasthanadipathi of Anuradhapura, the most venerable Dr. Pallegama Siriniwasa Thero, by the Assistant General Manager North Central Province Ranjith Welikannage and his team. The CEO/ General Manager Senarath Bandara, DGM Treasury, Investment and International D.P.K. Gunasekara, DGM Sales and Channel Management C. Amarasingha, DGM Human Resource K.E.D. Sumanasiri, DGM Recovery Provinces D.M.L.B. Dassanayake, members of executive management and other officials of the bank also participated to this ceremony.
This ceremony takes place annually with the participation of members of the bank’s staff and many other Buddhist devotees coming from all parts of the country.
Every year thousands of Buddhists come to worship the Jaya Shri Maha Bodhi daily and this act will provide the deeply serene environment that those who come to worship.
Light colour clean sand is a thing that adds a serene environment to Buddhist temples and philosophically represents the ultimate ending of everything that once existed.
The most sacred Jaya Shri Maha Bodhi is widely considered the world’s oldest historically recorded important tree. Worshipped by Buddhists all over the world, Jaya Shri Maha Bodhi was brought to Sri Lanka in 249 B.C. by the most venerated Sangha Mitta Theri, the daughter of Emperor Asoka of India. Both the Theri and the Sapling were accorded every royal honour and received with great reverence by King Devanampiyatissa of Sri Lanka who ceremoniously planted the sapling in Anuradhapura Mahamewna Uyana, the royal garden of the king.
The chronicles of Sinhalese, known as the Mahawansaya says that miracles occurred during the ceremony of planting the Jaya Shri Maha Bodhi sapling. Since then the Bodhi has been worshipped as one of the most sacred objects of Buddhist worship.