Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to India Milinda Moragoda who was on a three-day official visit to the State of Odisha last week visited the Bhubaneswar centre of the Mahabodhi Society of India (MBSI).
At the Mahabodhi centre, High Commissioner Moragoda, Madam Jennifer Moragoda and the delegation were ceremonially welcomed by the boy scouts and girl guides of the MBSI school, which is managed by the Mahabodhi Society of India. Following the ceremonial welcome, the High Commissioner paid obeisance at the shrine room and the Bodhi tree of the Centre. Three Sri Lankan Buddhist monks who are resident at the Centre, chanted seth pirith and blessed the High Commissioner and his delegation.
After the religious rites, High Commissioner Moragoda met with the management and the teachers of the MBSI School. The meeting was presided over by the President of the MBSI Bhubaneswar Committee Narendra Mishra. Committee’s Vice President and MBSI Governing Board member Namrata Chadha also spoke.
The MBSI school has more than 1800 students, and education is free of charge for half of them. The rest pay a nominal fee. The Mahabodhi Society of India is running the school targeting the students from economically weaker and underprivileged sections of the society.
Founded in 1891 in Colombo by Bodhisattva Anagarika Dharmapala with the objective of restoring the holy Buddhist sites in India, the Mahabodhi Society, from its inception has acted as a representative of the worldwide Buddhist community and provided a platform for the Buddhist World to voice its opinions. The Maha Bodhi Society of India is widely engaged in charitable and social welfare activities alongside spiritual services through its various centres across India.
High Commissioner Moragoda was accompanied by Minister of the High Commission of Sri Lanka in New Delhi Upul Pushpakumara and Minister Counsellor Gamini Sarath Godakanda.
High Commission of Sri Lanka
New Delhi
29 August 2023
