NAGPUR, Tuesday: Following Sri Lanka’s heaviest Test defeat by an innings and 239 runs in the second Test against India, captain of the Sri Lanka team Dinesh Chandimal and team mate Dimuth Karunaratne took time to spend the additional free day to pay a visit to Deekshabhoomi, a sacred monument of Buddhism located in Nagpur and regarded as a pilgrimage centre of Buddhism in India.
According to the local newspaper “Nagpur Today” the cricketers paid a visit with their wives and took rounds of the monument. The two cricketers took Darshan of Asthi Kalash of Bhagwan Gautam Buddha and performed puja.
Chandimal and Karunaratne were accompanied by team manager Asanka Gurusinha and his wife as well. The Sri Lankan cricketers garlanded busts of Bhagwan Gautam Buddha and Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar who, along with lakhs of his followers, took Deeksha at the historic place in October 1956.
Two months ago in September Chandimal caused quite a furore when he was reported to have said that he received a special blessing from a 'meyni', or sorcerer, ahead of the two-match series against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates which Sri Lanka won 2-0.
"I am always ready to accept the blessings of anyone - whether it is a meyni or any clergy. You can have talent, but without this blessing you can't move forward," Chandimal was quoted as telling reporters on his return to Colombo. - ST
0 comments:
Post a Comment