A total of 45 Kavadi dance groups that took part in last year’s Devinuwara Uthpalawanna Sri Vishnu Maha Devalaya Esala Perahera have been granted permission to participate in this year’s procession as well.
The decision was reached during a special discussion held at the Matara District Secretariat this afternoon (27), with the participation of Minister of Public Security Ananda Wijepala and other senior officials.
Secretary to the Ministry of Public Security Ravi Seneviratne, Inspector General of Police Priyantha Weerasuriya, Matara District Secretary Chandana Thilakarathne and representatives of relevant institutions attended the meeting.
The discussion was held to address concerns surrounding the participation of Kavadi dance groups in the annual Esala Perahera. Following the discussions, authorities decided to allow the 45 groups that performed last year to join this year’s procession.
It was also decided to deploy additional police personnel and officers from the Special Task Force (STF) to strengthen security arrangements for the perahera scheduled to be held tomorrow (28).
