CultureTV's video: Prime Minister engages in religious observances at Kataragama Diwa Poojawa

Ruhunu Maha Kataragama Dewalaya The official invitation for the Annual Esala Perahera organised by the Ruhunu Kataragama Devalaya was handed over to Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday by the Acting Basnayake Nilame of Ruhunu Maha Kataragama Devalaya Dilruwan Rajapakse. The organising committee said the perahera would be held from July 21 to August 04 and all the necessary health guidelines would be strictly followed. the traditional invitation for the annual Kataragama Perahera Festival of the Ruhuṇu Maha Kataragama Devalaya. Basnayake Nilame of the Ruhunu Kataragama Devalaya, Mr Dilruwan Rajapaksha handed over the invitation today evening (17.06.2020) at my official residence in Wijerama. The annual Kataragama Perahera Festival of the Ruhuṇu Maha Kataragama Devalaya will be held from July 21st to August 4th. The ‘Perehara’ will be held on 3rd August and the festival will come to an end on August 4th after the ‘water cutting festival’ (Diyakapana Mangallaya). Special arrangements has been made to conduct the Perehra adhering to health and safety guidelines issued. Due to COVID 19 the organizing committee informed that the public is unable to attend to view the Perehara. Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa engaged in religious observances at the Kataragama sacred grounds this morning (December 14). He first paid homage to the Kiri Vehera. Subsequently, the Prime Minister called on the Chief Incumbent of the Kataragama Kiri Vehera, Venerable Kobawaka Dhammananda Thero and obtained his blessings. The Prime Minister then paid homage to the Kataragama Ashtapala Bodhiya. He also paid homage to the Ruhunu Maha Kataragama Devalaya this evening and engaged in religious observances. Subsequently, the Prime Minister visited the Kataragama Sri Abinawarama Temple and called on Venerable Kapugama Sarana Tissa Thero and obtained his blessings. ----------------------- Kataragama as known secret city wolrd wide. there are many different customs doing annually. Kataragama temple (රුහුණු කතරගම දේවාලය, கதிர்காமம் முருகன் கோயில், lit. 'Ruhuṇu Kataragama Dēvālaya', 'Katirkāmam Murugan Kōvil') in Kataragama, Sri Lanka, is a temple complex dedicated to Buddhist guardian deity Kataragama deviyo and Hindu War God Murugan. It is one of the few religious sites in Sri Lanka that is venerated by the Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims and the Vedda people. For most of the past millennia, it was a jungle shrine very difficult to access; today it is accessible by an all-weather road. The shrines and the nearby Kiri Vehera are managed by Buddhists, the shrines dedicated to Teyvāṉai and Shiva are managed by Hindus and the mosque by Muslims. The shrine has for centuries attracted Tamil Hindus from Sri Lanka and South India who undertook an arduous pilgrimage on foot. Since the latter half of the 20th century, the site has risen dramatically among Sinhalese Buddhists who today constitute majority of the visitors. The medieval phase of the history of the shrine began with the arrival of Kalyanagiri Swamy from North India sometimes during the 16th or 17th century. He identified the very spot of the shrines and their mythic associations with characters and events as expounded in Kanda Puranam. Following his re-establishment of the forest shrine, it again became a place of pilgrimage for Indian and Sri Lankan Hindus. The shrine also attracted local Sinhala Buddhist devotees. The caretakers of the shrines were people of the forest who were of indigenous Vedda or mixed Vedda and Sinhalese lineages. The shrines popularity increased with the veneration of the place by the kings of the Kingdom of Kandy, the last indigenous kingdom before colonial occupation of the island. When Indian indentured workers were brought in after the British occupation in 1815, they too began to participate in the pilgrimage in droves,[18] thus the popularity of the shrine increased amongst all sections of the people. ------------------------- කොරෝනා වෛරස උවදුර තුරන් වේවා!!! රුහුණු මහා කතරගම දේවාලයේ පවත්වන කදසුරිදු පිහිටයි ඓතිහාසික රුහුණු මහා කතරගම දේවාලයේ ඉතිහාසය ඉතා දුරාතීතයට දිවේ. පුරාවිද්‍යාත්මක නොවුවද සාම්ප‍්‍රදායික හා කාල්පනික මතයන් මීට ඉවහල් වේ. රුහුණු මහා කතරගම දේවාලයේ වාර්ෂික ඇසළ පෙරහැර මංගල්‍ය උත්සවය ජූලි මස 21 වන දින සිට අගෝස්තු මස 04 වන දින දක්වා පැවැත්වීමට නියමිත අතර, ඊට අදාළ සම්ප්‍රදායික ආරධනා පත්‍රය රුහුණු මහා කතරගම දේවාලයේ බස්නායක නිලමේ තැන්පත් දිල්රුවන් රාජපක්ෂ මහතා විසින් අද (2020.06.17) පිළිගන්වනු ලැබීය. ජූලි මස 21 වැනි දින ආරම්භ කරන රුහුණු මහා කතරගම දේවාලයේ පෙරහැර අගෝස්තු 03 වන දින මහා පෙරහැර පැවැත්වීමෙන් අනතුරුව අගෝස්තු 04 වැනි දින අලුයම දියකපන මංගල්‍යය පැවැත්වීමෙන් අවසන් කිරීමට නියමිතය. මෙවර රුහුණු මහා කතරගම දේවාලයේ වාර්ෂික පෙරහැර සෞඛ්‍ය ආරක්ෂණ වැඩපිළිවෙල අනුගමනය කරමින් සම්ප්‍රදායික චාරිත්‍රවාරිත්‍ර හා පිළිවෙත් රකිමින් පැවැත්වීමට සියලු කටයුතු යොදා ඇති අතර පවතින කොවිඩ් -19 වසංගත තත්ත්වය හේතුවෙන් බැතිමතුන් සඳහා පෙරහැර නැරඹීමේ අවස්ථාව ලබා දී නොමැති බව පෙරහැර සංවිධායක කමිටුව පවසයි. කතරගම දෙවියන්ගේ පිහිට ආශිර්වාදය නිරතුරුවම ලැබේවා ....!!!!!!