10-day long celebrations of CBK’s 70th birthday

In celebration of the 70th birthday of former president Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, well-wishers from across Sri Lanka have organised a 10-day series of religious services and charitable activities in various parts of the island from 26 June to 5 July.

The events will recognise her decades of leadership and service to the country and be highlighted by multi-religious services. These include Bodhipoojas at Sri Maha Bodhi Vihara Anuradhapura, and the Dalada Maligawa, Kandy; church blessings led by Cardinal Malcom Ranjith at her alma mater St. Bridget’s Convent; offerings at the Munneswaran Kovil in Puttalam, and blessings at Shaikh Usman Waliyullah Shrine and Masjid in Colombo.

A day will also be spent in the long-standing Bandaranaike electorate of Attanagalla. Here, in addition to a pooja at the Raja Maha Vihara, patients of the local hospital will receive gifts of fruit. These activities are in line with other donations of food items as well as dry rations, spectacles, books, etc that will be made to those in need throughout the 10-days.

The schedule will conclude with a celebratory speaker event at the BMICH to be attended by both President Maithripala Sirisena, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe and other distinguished guests.

The keynote is to be delivered by prominent Indian political theorist Rajeev Bhargava – who headed the Delhi based Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) from 2007-2014, and is the current head of the centre’s Institute of Indian Thought. He was also a distinguished Resident Fellow at Sciences Po, Paris – CBK’s university alma mater – in addition to fellowships at Harvard, Columbia and Balliol College, Oxford.