India shares the spirit of celebration as Sri Lanka’s trusted and dependable partner, the High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka, Santosh Jha has stated.

High Commissioner Jha while extending warm greetings to all Sri Lankans on the 78th Independence Day said the special occasion will be marked with the inauguration of the exposition of sacred Devnimori Relics from India later today.

Meanwhile, the Indian aircraft bearing the sacred Devnimori relics arrived at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) at around 1:00 p.m.

Under the facilitation of Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi and with the support of the government of India, the exposition of ‘sacred Devnimori relics of Lord Buddha’ will commence at the Gangaramaya Temple in Hunupitiya today.

The exposition is scheduled to begin under the patronage of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake.

The sacred Devnimori relics of Lord Buddha, discovered during excavations in the 1960s at the historic Devnimori site in Gujarat, have never before been taken outside India. As a result of discussions held between President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the latter’s recent visit to Sri Lanka, a rare opportunity has now been provided for the people of Sri Lanka to venerate the sacred relics.

The exposition of the sacred Devnimori relics will be held at the Gangaramaya Temple in Hunupitiya, Colombo, for seven days, from tomorrow (05) to February 11.