12th May 2023 18:50:46 Hours
231 Infantry Brigade troops of the 23 Infantry Division, together with the office of the District Secretariat - Batticaloa and the Batticaloa Police - organized a colourful new year festival at the Weber stadium ground in Batticaloa town on Sunday (30 April) on account of the Sinhala and Tamil New Year.
The event was organized with the aim of further promoting civil-military cooperation and mutual relations in a multi-cultural, multi-religious and multi-ethnic milieu.
The New Year celebration consisted of traditional and fun-making games, inclusive of a marathon race, cycle race, boat race, climbing the grease tree, pillow fighting, tug of war, selection of the new year prince and the beauty queen, etc. Furthermore, the festival was coloured by both Sinhala and Tamil traditional dancing features. A large number of Tamil and Sinhala civilians enthusiastically participated in those events and enjoyed the day.
Mrs. Kalamathi Pathmarajah, District Secretary for Batticaloa, Brigadier W.M.N.K.D Bandara RWP RSP USP psc, Commander, 231 Infantry Brigade, and Mr. Udith Liyanage, Deputy Inspector General of Police for Batticaloa District joined the inaugural occasion as chief guests. Senior Officers, Officers, Other Ranks and a large crowd of locals witnessed the grand ceremony.
