Above: Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe at BMICH inaugural.
Below: Large crowd at Galle Face Green to attend WHC cultural show
Below: Large crowd at Galle Face Green to attend WHC cultural show
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Above: Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe at BMICH inaugural. Below: Large crowd at Galle Face Green to attend WHC cultural show |
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Islandwide festivities to coincide with the holding of the second World Hindu Conference 2003 (WHC) in Sri Lanka this year attracted thousands of Hindu devotees to different places of worship and public importance, including Colombo Galle Face, Nuwara Eliya, Jaffna, Kandy, Batticaloa, Badulla, Bandarawela and Trincomalee.
The second World Hindu Conference, inaugurated at Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH) on 2 May 2003 was attended by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe as Chief Guest on the occasion.
All these festivities had been organized by the Ministry of Hindu Religious affairs on the advice of Minister of Hindu Religious affairs T. Maheshwaran (MP).
Hundreds of Hindu spiritual leaders from overseas graced the Conference, and its sessions also offered a window of opportunity for Hindu leaders to exchange views on their religion and explore possibilities for promotion of their religious interests.
Celebrations in this connection on the Galle Face esplanade in Colombo drew hundreds of devotees and visitors. Multi-coloured decorations, erected around the esplanade offered the necessary festive mood to the gathering who flocked there in their hundreds. Religious as well as cultural feats appeared on stage added colour to the occasion at Galle Face esplanade and entertained the visitors including foreign delegates who had arrived in Sri Lanka for the Conference. The peaceful atmosphere in the country appeared to have attracted large crowds for these celebrations.
Elsewhere in the island, these celebrations, largely organized on cultural themes were attended by local religious leaders and hundreds of devotees.