The Annual Katina Ceremony of the Ottawa Buddhist Vihara was held on 19 October 2019 at the Foster Farm Community Centre in Ottawa. Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner for Canada, Asoka Girihagama, Sudharma Girihagama and family were the main sponsors of the event.
The ceremony commenced with katina robe procession and religious observances followed by dana to the monks. High Commissioner Girihagama together with the staff of the High Commission and the Buddhist community in Ottawa offered Dana (almsgiving) to 20 Buddhist monks who attended the ceremony representing many Buddhist temples across Canada and Sri Lanka. Then, High Commissioner Girihagama offered katina-robe to monks followed by the Punya anumodana speech by chief incumbent monk of Ottawa Buddhist Vihara, Venerable Walassmulle Sirisumana thero. The vote of thanks was delivered by the High Commissioner.
A gift basket was also auctioned as a part of the ceremony to raise funds in support of the temple. The event concluded with the offering of lunch to all devotees participated to the event.
