The 20th Anniversary of the Galle Peace Pagoda (“Sama Chaithya”) was recently celebrated with local and international guests. Situated on Rumassala Hill, it was built with the assistance of Japanese bhikkhus in 2005.
Many members of Nipponzan Myohoji Sangha (a Japanese Buddhist order of the Nichiren tradition dedicated to the building of peace pagodas worldwide) joined in the ceremony.
The Peace Pagoda in Galle was inaugurated two months after the devastating tsunami in 2004 which took many lives in coastal Sri Lanka. Today, hundreds of people visit the Pagoda daily.
Pix by Sulochana Gamage