<p style="text-align: justify;">A heavy influx of pilgrims was experienced in Kataragama sacred city during the Sinhala and Hindu New Year festive season. Pilgrims from far and near flocked to Kataragama and among them were thousands of Hindu devotees from Jaffna and Batticaloa areas.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">They attended religious observances at Kirivehera Cheithiya and Poojas at the Ruhunu Kataragama Mahadevalaya.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;">Several of them performed the boiling over of milk and other customs in the sacred city. <strong>(Sumanasiri Gunatilleka and K.D. Devapriya)</strong></p><center><a href="https://www.hi.lk/himag" target="_blank"><img src="https://bmkltsly13vb.compat.objectstorage.ap-singapore-1.oraclecloud.com/cdn.sg.dailymirror.lk/assets/uploads/advr_7fec3b236e.jpg" /></a></p></center> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong><img src="https://bmkltsly13vb.compat.objectstorage.ap-singapore-1.oraclecloud.com/cdn.sg.dailymirror.lk/assets/uploads/image_cabb380f3e.jpg" /></strong></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Pic by Nisal Baduge</strong></p></p>