In the morning of 13 January 2013, H.E. Mr. Poldej Worachat, Thai Ambassador to Sri Lanka, in association with Venerable Galboda Gnanissara Thera, Chief Incumbent of Gangaramaya Temple, Venerable Seewali Thero, Head of Thai-Sri Lanka Buddhist Cultural Center, organized the almsgiving ceremony (Pindapatha in Sinhala) at the Ambassador’s Residence to mark the beginning of 260^th Anniversary of Siam Nikaya in Sri Lanka in 2013 to jointly celebrate the New Year with Thai community in Sri Lanka.

     The event started when Venerable Galboda Gnanissara Thera led a group of 26 Thai and Sri Lanka monks to start an almsround from Gangaramaya to the Ambassador’s Residence. After arriving the residence, the monks received food offering from Thai and Sri Lankan participants, notably H.E. Mr. Karunatilaka Amunugama Secretary of External Affairs, Mrs. Nirmalie Gunatilleke, Sri Lanka-Thailand Society President and Mr. Thongchai Tungkasareeruk, Thai Airways’ General Manager for Sri Lanka. Afterwards, the monks offered chanting to the participants.

     The Royal Thai Embassy held the event in order to introduce the almsgiving ceremony (Pindaptha) in Sri Lanka. Almsgiving can hardly be seen in the country as Sri Lankan Buddhists prefer to offer breakfast and lunch to monks at the temples