(UTV | COLOMBO) – President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has issued directives to hold the final rites of the late Chancellor of the University of Kelaniya, Chief Incumbent of the Peliyagoda Vidyalankara Pirivena, Agga Maha Panditha Most Venerable Velamitiyawe Kusaladhamma thera under full state patronage.
The President’s Media Division said the President addressing the Secretaries of the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Buddhasasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs, instructed them to coordinate all relevant activities and plan to hold the funeral ceremony under full state patronage.
The Department of Government Information said the date of Kusaladhamma thera’s final rites will be announced later.
Chancellor of the University of Kelaniya Ven. Velamitiyawe Kusaladhamma Thera has passed away, aged 84.
The Thera, born as Palihawadana Arachchilage Tikiri Bandara in Welamitiyawa, in the Kurunegala District, on the 20th of February, 1937, was ordained on the 7th of January, 1954.
Kusaladhamma Thera later graduated with honours in the Sinhala language from the Vidhyalankara University.
Kusaladhamma Thera was appointed Director of the Vidyalankara Pirivena in Peliyagoda in 1983, and became the Chief Incumbent in 1990.
The Thera also held the post of Chief Sanganayake of the Malwathu Chapter for the Colombo and Chilaw regions.
