Lankan Missions overseas celebrate Thai Pongal

By Manjula FERNANDO

Sri Lankan Missions abroad organised colourful events to celebrate 'Thai Pongal' the harvest festival of Tamils which fell last Sunday in keeping with their tradition of celebrating the important religious festivals of Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims and Christians. Here are a few moments captured in camera of the Pongal ceremonies held in the US, France and Canada.

Sri Lankan Americans celebrated Pongal at the Embassy of Sri Lanka on January 13, Friday.

The guests including officials from the US State Department attended the traditional celebration of thanksgiving for the harvest. Swami Sivanatha Kurukkal offered Hindu prayers, performed the lighting of the traditional oil lamp and also presented the offering of Pongal to Lord Ganesh and the deities.During the ceremony, Ambassador Jaliya Wickramasuriya noted the importance of agriculture and the closeness that Sri Lankans feel to the land.

He also spoke on efforts to renew the Northern Sri Lankan agricultural areas, and the government's work to expand services and economic opportunity in the post-conflict environment.Sri Lanka's Paris mission celebrated Thai Pongal in the Embassy premises on January 16.

The Hindu priests conducted religious observances and offered blessings on the gathering. Following the lighting of the traditional Hindu oil lamp by Ambassador Dayan Jayatilleka, blessings were invoked. "Sri Lanka is home to four of the major religions in the world: Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity and Islam.

It is in the spirit of Sri Lankans to respect all cultures, religions and civilisations.

To be Sri Lankan is to celebrate diversity" Ambassador Jayatilleka said.

A food assortment of Pongal and sweetmeats traditionally associated with the Thai Pongal celebration was served at the end of the ceremony. Consulate General of Sri Lanka in Toronto, Canada celebrated Thai Pongal at the Thituchendur Murugan Hindu Temple in North York Toronto on January 15. Sri Lanka's Consul General Karunarathna Paranawithana, with several community leaders, participated in the main Pooja. Thai Pongal is a national holiday in Sri Lanka that recognizes the harvest as a time to give thanks to the earth, the bounty it creates and the animals that work to produce the harvest.

Consul General, Toronto, Karu Paranavithana participating in the Thai Pongal ceremony	Swami Sivanatha Kurukkal blessing Ambassador Jaliya Wickramasuriya at the Washington Mission
A section of the gathering at the Paris Mission	A section of the gathering at the Washington Embassy