ත්රිත්ව විද්යාලයීය බොදු සිසු හවුල විසින් සතළිස් නව වන වරට සවිදහන් කැරෙන සර්ව රාත්රික පරිත්රාණ ධර්ම දේශනය සහ සපිරිකර සංඝගත දක්ෂිණාව, මාර්තු මස 9 සහ 10 සති අග විද්යාලයීය ප්රධාන ශාලාවේ දී පැවැත්වේ. සර්ව රාත්රික පරිත්රාණ දේශනය – මාර්තු 9 දින ප. ව. 9.00 සිට සපිරිකර සංඝගත දක්ෂිණාව – මාර්තු 10 දින පෙ. ව. 11.00 සිට ඒ සඳහා ඔබේ නො මඳ සහයෝගය මෙන් මැ සහභාගිත්වය ගෞරවාන්විත වැ අපේක්ෂා කරමු. ද්රව්යමය සහ/හෝ මූල්යමය ආධාර ලබාදීමට රිසි නම්, මාර්තු 5 අඟහරුවාදා දිනට පෙර, කරුණාකර පහත දුරකථන අංක වෙත අමතා තහවුරු කරන මෙන් කාරුණිකව ඉල්ලා සිටිමු. මල්ලව දිසානායක මයා – 075 335 6425 (අනුශාසක – ත්රිත්ව විද්යාලයීය බෞද්ධ ශිෂ්ය සංගමය) වාසනා දිසානායක මයා – 077 643 0679 ස්තුතියි,ත්රිත්ව විද්යාලයීය බෞද්ධ ශිෂ්ය සංගමය.
In a environment where brotherhood and unity are not restricted by any cultural or social barrier, Trinity College is an educational institution that displays a vast array of culture, although it was built upon Christian missionary aims. A Trinitian is trained from his small days to deliver this message to the rest of the world, and there is no better place to show this other than in the Annual Pirith Ceremony and Almsgiving. As per tradition, this occasion was organized by the Buddhist Students Movement of Trinity College for the 45th consecutive year, with the generous support of the borders, staff and the College families. It also involved students ranging from the Junior to the Upper School of all religious backgrounds. The boys managed to do a fantastic job for the ceremony, even though the weather conditions were not in favour of the day. And although the iconic oil lamps were not seen along the College drive this year due to the pouring rain, the torch-bearers lit the drive up to the main hall. The Annual Pirith Ceremony came to a conclusion with the traditional almsgiving as a sign of gratitude to the reverend monks for blessing the College and it’s students. It is of utmost importance for a modern Sri Lankan educational institution like Trinity College to show the world through occasions like this that a success of a common task is easier to achieve with united hearts!
It was quite a busy Saturday morning on 2nd March 2019 as many students and staff members were seen in the premises near the main hall making arrangements for the 44th Annual Pirith Ceremony. Abiding with the traditions, this year too the ceremony was organised by the Buddhist Students’ Movement (BSM) of the College along with the generous assistance of the staff, parents, hostellers and the grade 13 students. The Pirith Ceremony The night was lit up by the flicker of the oil lamps which were placed along the driveway and the stairs leading up to the main hall. Meanwhile, the torch and flag bearers were anxiously waiting for the arrival of the reverend monks. The event was organized magnificently and the overall decorations were charming and minimalistic, giving the feeling of simplicity of the Buddhist philosophy. The Pirith chamber (Pirith kotuwa) was significantly different this year compared to last year in terms of its simplicity. The venerable monks blessed the occasion with their presence, and they did not forget to appreciate the fact that an Anglican school has been organizing this event consecutively for more than 40 years. More students and parents were seen at the pirith ceremony compared to the previous years. It was a pleasure to see a few newly joined grade 1 students with their parents. They were very grateful to be a part of the event as well. It was also interesting to notice a few members of the 1st XV Rugby team at the ceremony who came all the way from Colombo after their glorious win against Zahira College Colombo. The Almsgiving After the ‘Sarvarathrika Pirith Ceremony’, The hostelers and the staff sprung back to action again to make arrangements for the almsgiving on Sunday morning. A venerable monk gave a short introduction of the occasion to those present before starting the proceedings of the almsgiving. The monk stated, “The Buddhist Students’ Movement has been continuously organizing this ceremony for 44 years. Even though Trinity is an Anglican School it organizes the pirith ceremony and the almsgiving in a way which is not even seen in a Buddhist school. From what we know, Trinity is the only school which has been organizing this event continuously for more than 40 years. Trinity is not only recognized locally but also all around the world as a leading school with sound education, sports and other facilities. From its inception to now , if Trinity has developed in every manner, it is because of such sacred deeds. Christians , Hindus and Muslim students study at this prestigious college, and today there are many non-Buddhist students and staff members present here. Being united regardless of religious differences is a good example for the society of our country. We can mention that Trinity teaches the students how to be exceptional citizens to the society through learning the values of life.” The almsgiving was dedicated to bring blessings to the Principal, Vice Principal, Co-vice Principal, staff, parents and students while also remembering the lives of late master Bathiya Ekanayake, Mr Alex Lazurus, and lives of all Trinitians who sacrificed their lives to the society. Along with the help of the caterers, hostelers, and staff the almsgiving was successfully completed. To conclude proceedings of this sacred event, ‘Pirikara’ (monastic requisites) were presented to the monks as a traditional offering. And so the participants were also called upon to transfer the merits they have thus acquired for the well-being of their dead kinsmen and friends. At the end of the almsgiving, the monks were escorted back to the temple. It also seemed that the religious diversity at Trinity did not stop students from being a part of this sacred ceremony. Many students who were Muslim, Hindu and Christians were there to help the BSM and the staff with the proceedings. This clearly displays the true humanitarian values that College has inculcated in the hearts of all Trinitians. Thus it is the responsibility of the present and future communities of Trinity to ensure that rich traditions such as this carried out for years to come. Message from the President “I would like to extend my heartiest gratitude to each and every teacher, parent and student who attended this year’s 44th annual Pirith Ceremony and the Almsgiving. As usual, this year too we had the support and assistance of the fellow boarders and students of grade 13 who were generous enough to take their time off from the weekend, stay back in College and see to all the arrangements. I like to appreciate the presence of many Christians, Hindus and Islamic boys who were seen both at the pirith ceremony and the almsgiving. It is indeed a blessing for the BSM and us as Buddhists to witness the unity of brotherhood regardless of religion, race, age and caste. I thank the Principal, Mr Andrew Fowler-Watt and the school management for allowing us to continue this sacred tradition this year as well and our teacher-in-charge Mrs Seetha Dissanayake who has been supporting us throughout the arrangements. I also need to mention Mr Mallawa Dissanayake, our previous master-in-charge to whom the credit should be given for being a thriving force of the BSM for many years in the past. We are very grateful to have such staff members in the vicinity of the school. I would also like to acknowledge the presence of the venerable monks whose blessings brought great peace and harmony to the Trinity community. I also thank the Committee of the BSM, Samuditha Perera (Secretary), Thamindu Perera (Treasurer), Gimhan Vithanage and Naween Aluwihare from grade 13, Niluminda Dharmawardhane and Bimalka Paingamuwa from grade 12, Thewmika Nimalasena and Omindu Munasinghe from grade 11, Dhananjaya Herath and Chelaka Samaraweera from grade 10 and Uvan Withanage, Yevan Hulangamuwa and Linuka Mallikaarachchi from grade 9. Finally, I would like to emphasize to all fellow Trinitians, that religion is as important as the education and the discipline we get, and request the whole of Buddhist community at Trinity (both staff and students) to always
It is certainly a ‘meeting of cultures’ when a pirith ceremony and an almsgiving takes place in an Anglican school. The Buddhist Students Movement along with the staff, students and the Trinity Community together organised the Annual Pirith Ceremony for the 43rd time at the College Main Hall. ‘Spirituality’ and ‘sacredness’ have always been the main ethics in the heart of every Trinitian, as many Muslim, Christian, and Hindu boys were seen both at the pirith ceremony and the almsgiving. This very act indicates that even though we are culturally diverse, we are always united by brotherhood. Something that was spotted by a few people at this devotional ceremony were the oil lamps kept along the main drive towards College. The same lamps are used for the ‘Carol Service’ every year. It was indeed perfect example for the cultural diversity and the strength of co-existence that prevails within Trinity. In a society where religion is overruled by ‘tuition classes’, everyone who were present at the pirith ceremony and the almsgiving held on the 3rd and 4th March 2018, would have felt how serene it was. It is the duty of the younger generations to continue such sacred traditions as Trinity College, being a 146 year old school, still remains rich in all its cultural heritage. Article written by Sheshan Abeysekara & Shihan Maharoof