Veera Keppetipola commemorated

Kandy Special Correspondent

Veera Keppetipola always acted according to his conscience.

He returned to the British, their own weapons and joined the rebels who were at war with them for national independence, said Aggamaha Panditha Ven.

Aluthgama Dhammananda Thera, Senior Karaka Sangha Sabhika of the Malwatta Chapter in his key address to the Veera Keppetipola Commemoration ceremony at Veera Keppetipola Memorial Hall, Kandy. He said that it had been the disunity among the Sinhala nobility that caused the downfall of the country. Veera Keppetipola fought for the lost glory of the motherland.

He faced the death valiantly. He paid homage to the Dammapada, and offered his shawl to the Sacred Tooth Relic before being beheaded by the British.

It was a great act of patriotism and gallantry on his part to face death.

Ven. Udawatta Nanda Thera, former Kandy District Parliamentarian said that Sri Lankans have no sense of patriotism.

They seek cheap popularity being unmindful of a glorious past. A musical show would attract the youth more than a religious event.

Even women carrying their brood with them spend hours in such performances ruining the future generation. This has become the order of the day.

Had bhikkhus such as Ven. Welivita Saranankara Thera and Anagarika Dharmapala lived today they would have deplored the tragedy, the country has faced today.

As Mahasangha we should encourage the people on good behaviour, exhorting them to eliminate defilements, he said.