Marking 273 years since the establishment of the Upasampada ordination tradition of the Siam Chapter in Sri Lanka, a group of 56 monks from Thailand, Laos and Myanmar began a foot pilgrimage today (10) from the Gokanna Raja Maha Vihara in Trincomalee to Kandy.

The pilgrimage, titled ‘Siam Dhamma Pada Yatra,’ is being conducted for the second time.

It commemorates the historic return of Venerable Upali Thera and his delegation to Sri Lanka 273 years ago by sailing ship to the ancient Gokanna Port in Trincomalee, in order to re-establish Buddhist Dhamma and ‘Upasampada’ ordination tradition that had disappeared from the country.

This foot pilgrimage symbolically retraces that journey, carrying the ordination tradition from Gokanna to Kandy (Senkadagala), on foot.

The event was organised by Ven. Professor Walmoruwe Piyarathana Thera, Head of the Department of Buddhist Studies at Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University in Thailand.

The ceremony was attended by Thai Ambassador to Sri Lanka Paitoon Mahapannapoon, Eastern Province Governor Prof. Jayantha Lal Ratnasekera, District Secretary W.G. Mahesh Hemanta Kumara, Deputy Inspector General D.M.U. Mahinda Dissanayake, and Sri Lanka Army 22 Division Commander Major General Kanchana Wijesekara, among others.

As part of the commemoration of 273 years since the establishment of the ‘Upasampada’ ordination in Sri Lanka, three Thai laywomen also received ordination as ten-precept nuns (Dasasil Matha) at the Gokanna temple, marking another notable feature of the event.