On 9 November 2018, H.E. Mr. Don Pramudwinai, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Thailand, presided over the Offering Ceremony of the Royal Kathina Robes graciously bestowed by His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun, to the congregation of Buddhist monks at Shree Jayashekhararamaya, Colombo, the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. The ceremony was headed by the Most Venerable Thalalle Siri Mahinda Nayaka Thero, Chief Incumbent of Shree Jayashekhararamaya. The representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were H.E. Mrs. Chulamanee Chartsuwan, Ambassador of Thailand to Sri Lanka, Ms. Busadee Santipitaks, Director-General of the Department of Information, and Mr. Chettaphan Maksamphan, Bureau Chief, Office of Policy and Planning. The Sri Lankan dignitaries to the ceremony included the Honourable Karu Jayasuriya, Speaker of the Parliament of Sri Lanka. Diplomatic corps, representatives of the Thai private companies in Sri Lanka as well as Thai and Sri Lankan Buddhists also attended the event. Over 300 people attended the ceremony.

 

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has organized the Royal Kathina Offering Ceremony in Sri Lanka for the past sixteen years since 1996 and this is the first the that the ceremony is held at Shree Jayashekhararamaya. The temple is known for having a strong connection with the Thai people through cooperation with Thailand and Thai monks, including an exchange of visits between monks of the two countries for past 4 decades. On this occasion, the donation to the Monastery from His Majesty the King, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as Thai and Sri Lankan Buddhists totaled 431,640 baht (2,259,899 Sri Lankan rupees).