The historic Temple of the Tooth Relic in Kandy, which had not hosted the Janaraja Perahara for 34 years, held the procession on February nineteenth at 6:45 PM. The occasion was organized to coincide with the seventy fifth Independence Anniversary Celebrations and was attended by President Ranil Wickremesinghe and Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardhena.
The procession commenced on the Magul Maduwa premises and adopted a route that included Dalada Veediya, Yatinuvara Veediya, Kanda Veediya, Raja Veediya, and ended on the temple. The procession included cultural performances, corresponding to dancing troops and caparisoned elephants, which added glitz and colour to the occasion. A big crowd had gathered to observe the Janaraja Perahara procession.
Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana, Ministers Nimal Siripala de Silva, Dr. Bandula Gunawardana, Vidura Wickramanayaka, Keheliya Rambukwella, Mahinda Amaraweera, Dr. Wijayadasa Rajapaksa, Ali Sabri, Manusha Nanayakkara, Thondaman, State Ministers Dilum Amunugama, Anuradha Jayaratne, Chief of Employees and Senior Advisor to the President on Nationwide Safety Mr Sagala Ratnayake, Secretary to the President Saman Ekanayake, Defence Secretary Basic Kamal Gunaratne (Retired), Chief of Defence Employees Basic Shavendra Silva, Military Commander Lt. Gen. Vikum Liyanage and lots of diplomats gathered to observe the occasion.
President’s Media Division
