Harvest Festival celebrated at the Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi

COLOMBO (News 1^st) - The National Harvest Festival, preceding the dawn of the Sinhala and Tamil New Year, was held under the auspices of President Maithripala Sirisena at the sacred Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi in Anuradhapura today (April 8). President Sirisena first paid homage to the sacred Sri Maha Bodhiya and obtained blessings by performing the traditional ritual utilizing silver coins. Later, he offered a bowl filled with a toxin-free indigenous variety of rice to the Venerable Maha Sangha. The pure honey bowl traditionally offered to the sacred Jayasri Maha Bodhiya was handed over to the President by the Leader of Sri Lanka's indeginious tribes, Uruwarige Wannila Aththo. The Harvest Festival souvenir was then presented to the Head of State by Minister of Agriculture Duminda Dissanayake. Speaking at the event Minister Duminda Dissanayake stated that during the recent past they had a request from the farming community to provide fertilizer at a concessionary rate. He said that as a government that understands the needs of the people, they have re-implemented the old program of providing a bag of fertilizer for Rs. 500 for two hectares of paddy cultivation, via agrarian centers. WATCH HERE:  https://www.facebook.com/NewsfirstSL/videos/1905162602877322/