BoC conducts annual sand laying ceremony at Sri Maha Bodhi

15 May 2015 03:23 am Views - 1832

With the blessings and the guidance Anuradhapura Atamasthanadipathi Venerable Dr. Pallegama Siriniwasa Thera, the ceremony of strewing white sand at the Anuradhapura Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi Upper Maluwa and Lower Maluwa was conducted with the patronage of the Bank of Ceylon (BoC) Chairman President’s Counsel Roland C. Perera recently. 
Organised by the bank’s North Central Province Assistant General Manager H.M.P.B. Herath and staff, this act of devotion takes place annually with the participation of the board members and the management of BoC. 
This year the bank’s Deputy General Manager Support Services P.J. Jayasinghe, Deputy General Manager Province Sales Management G.L.P. Jinasoma, Deputy General Manager Corporate and Offshore Banking D.P.K. Gunasekara, North Central Province Assistant General Manager H.M.P.B. Herath, members of the bank’s staff and other Buddhist devotees participated. 
Thousands of Buddhists come to worship Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi daily and this act will provide a cleaner environment to those who come to worship. Changing sand in this manner is also considered to be beneficial to the roots of the sacred Bo tree.
The most sacred Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi is widely considered the world’s oldest historically recorded important tree. Worshiped by Buddhists all over the world, Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi was brought to Sri Lanka in 249 B.C. by the most revered Sangha Mitta Theri, the daughter of Emperor Asoka of India. Both the Theri and the sapling were accorded every royal honour and received with great reverence by King Devanampiyatissa of Sri Lanka who ceremoniously planted the sapling in Anuradhapura Mahamewna Uyana, the royal garden of the king. The chronicles of Sinhalese, known as the Mahawansaya says that miracles occurred during the ceremony of planting the Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi sapling. Since then the Bodhi has been worshipped as one of the most sacred objects of Buddhist worship.    
BoC earned global recognition as one of the top 1000 banks in the world, (country rank No.1) as listed by The Banker Magazine (UK) in 2012, 2013 and 2014.