New Year Celebrations by East London Buddhist Cultural Centre (Lumbini Vihara) 17th April 2011

Report & Pictures East London Buddhist Cultural Centre

This year’s Sinhala New Year celebrations organised by the East London Buddhist Cultural Centre were held on Sunday 17^th April. The morning session which was held at the temple premises included various Sri Lankan traditional games and activities for the young and old alike.

In the afternoon everyone moved from the temple premises to the nearby Cumberland School auditorium for the cultural programme. An audience of many hundreds were treated to a sumptuous serving of traditional dances, plays and activities. The whole event was very well choreographed and performed by the children of the Dhamma & Language School and their parents.  

Amongst the distinguished guests at the event were Sri Lankan acting High Commissioner in the UK, Mr. P M Hamza, Deputy Lord Mayor of London, Mr Richard Barnes, Local MP, Mr. Steven Timms, London Assembly Member, John Biggs and a number of local councillors and members of the clergy.  

Head of the Temple, Ven Makure Mangala addressing the gathering explained the significance and the meaning of the New Year. He also thanked everyone who participated and supported the programme and all the children and parents for their hard work over the last few weeks in making this event a great success. 

The Acting High Commissioner for Sri Lanka in the UK and the Deputy Mayor of London also addressed the gathering.  

During the cultural show everyone was treated to a traditional serving of Kiri Bath, Kavum, Kokis and other Sri Lankan sweets and savouries. 

The whole programme was covered by a special crew from the Independent Television Network (ITN) in Sri Lanka for a programme to be telecasted on Sri Lankan national television in the coming weeks.

SESATHA - The Sri Lankan Event Portal in UK