BOC old Cronies get together was held at  Green Gardens Reception Hall Kirulapona on 18th August 2024, with the participation of a large number BOC Pensioners. photos taken  at the event are published in the Photos Page 

 

 

 I am so happy to inform all that my Memoir titled "Four Decades at BOC' was launched recently at the SSC Colombo, with the Participation of the Rector of  Aquinas College of higher studies Very reverend Father Dr Sylvester Ranasinghe as the chief guest, Mrs Rohini Nanayakkara our former General Manager  as the Guest of Honour, Mr J.F.G (Guy) de Silva, former Senior DGM, Mr Upali Weerasinghe, former DGM, Mr Nimal Dias former DGM and several colleagues of mine.

Some Photos taken at the event

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BOC  Old Cronies Get Together was held at Wijayabahu's residence in  Pamankada on 18th Sunday December 2022 . Pictures taken at the event are published in the Photos page of this BlogSpot.                     

In Memoriam

BOC pensioners among whom there were many who  patronized the "OLD CRONIES" and never failed to attend the fellowships hosted by some veterans, left us during the past few months. With the onset of the Covid 19 pandemic and the strict health guide lines imposed many of us were prevented from attending their funerals and taking part in their last rites at the grave yards or at the Crematoriums.

The month of November being specially dedicated to those who left us either due to Old Age or Sickness,it is our duty to recall to memory those loved ones who once walked abreast with us, sharing our joys and sorrows. As a remembrance we publish the photos from available records of those who died. Please pray for the repose of their souls or offer your merits for them.    

Asoka Perera

D.Attanayake 

D Attanayake and Brian Forbes

Baba Fonseka

Chithrani perera

P. Geerasinghe

Lucky Gunerathne

Merril Silva

Paramadharmawardene

Patrick Silva

Rex Peiris

Sarath De Silva

S W Jayasuriya

D S B Wanasinghe

B.J. Vincent (AGM) Ananda Abeywickrama, Douglas de Silva, Jayantha Hapuarachchy  Mrs Karunadharma(AGM), and  Ethel Silva are also remembered

                                          

                        We deeply regret to record the demise 

                         of  Veteran Banker, Trade Unionist 

                                        and Sportsman

                                                      Asoka Perera 

                                                                  on the 03rd September 2020.

He was one of our past Presidents  who earned accolades from all the Pensioners for the welfare measures he was able to provide for them.

The Photos appearing below taken at the many fellowships hosted by the BOC Old Cronies speaks a volume about his inimitable character in associating with those who were near and dear to him.

                                            May he attain the bliss of Nibbana  

‘Thai Pongal’ the Harvest Festival of Tamils

After the Christmas and New Year festivities, the focus is now on the Pongal harvest festival, popularly known as Thai Pongal, celebrated in the first four days of the month of Thai in the Tamil-Hindu calendar.

Traditionally, it is the festival of farmers who depend on Mother Earth, the sun, rain, other natural elements and cows and buffaloes for a bountiful harvest of their staple food, rice.

It is a time when the poor, the rich, the villager and the city-dweller offer thanks to the gods, worship the sun, the earth, the cattle and their bounty with devotion.

In Sri Lanka, the festival is celebrated in the North, the East, the Central Hill Country and other areas where Hindus live. Although terrorism was eliminated and peace was restored almost four years ago, for the Tamils of the North, this year’s Thai Pongal is special because all displaced people have been resettled in their original villages and places of residence and they are back in their traditional professions, mainly agriculture and fisheries.

Pongal is uniquely Tamil that it has been designated the ‘State Festival’ in Tamil Nadu. Unlike in Sri Lanka, in Tamil Nadu, Pongal festivities continue in the first four days of Thai.

Four festivals are celebrated in Tamil Nadu over the four days. Houses are cleaned, painted and decorated. People wear new clothes and cattle are gaily caparisoned with beads, bells and flowers – their horns painted and capped with gleaming metal. The first day of Pongal is Bhogi, marked by feasting and merry-making. It is time for the new to replace the old. Huge bonfires are lit and all unwanted items around the house are consigned to the flames. Traditionally all old clay utensils were ritually broken and potters were asked to supply fresh stocks. With the advent of plastics and steel, this ritual has now become symbolic.Pongal is the only festival of the Hindus that follows a solar calendar and is celebrated on January 14 every year. Pongal has astronomical significance: It marks the beginning of Uttarayana, the Sun’s movement northward for a six-month period. In Hinduism, Uttarayana is considered auspicious, as opposed to Dakshinaayana, or the southern movement of the Sun. All important events are scheduled during this period.

Thai is an auspicious period to begin new ventures after the gloomy period of Margazhy. There is a Tamil saying Thai Poranthal Vazhy Porakkum, which means with the dawn of the month, a way for prosperity and happiness will be paved. Pongal signals the end of the traditional farming season, giving farmers a break from their monotonous routine. Farmers also perform pooja to crops, signalling the end of the traditional farming season. It also sets the pace for a series of festivals to follow in a calendar year.

Pongal is the day when the pot of milk and rice must boil over. Early in the morning, before sunrise, the women of the house draw intricate kolam outside their doors. Within the perimeters of kolam, firewood is used to cook the rice. This is the Surya Pongal, the Pongal for the Sun God. In Sri Lanka this and the following day’s Mattu Pongal or Pongal for the cattle are celebrated. The Pongal is set up in direct view of the Sun (East).

Temple bells, drums, clarinets and conch shells herald the joyous occasion of Pongal. To symbolise a bountiful harvest, rice is cooked in new pots until they boil over. Some of the temple rituals are the preparation of rice, chanting of prayers and offering of vegetables, sugar cane and spices to the gods. Devotees then consume the offerings to exonerate themselves of past sins.

The ritual of cooking rice and milk is done in the open, in the fields by farmers and in the courtyards and lawns of homes in the cities and villages at a pre-determined auspicious hour. The cooking area is decorated with flowers, sugarcane, plantain trees, buntings of flower garlands and rice paste. The boiling over of the contents is the auspicious sign that the family waits for and the women folk shout in high pitch “Pongalo, Pongal”. This is an offering to the Sun God and Mother Earth. The cooked preparation, Pongal (made of new rice, milk and jaggery) is offered to the gods along with preparations of vegetables and lentils, newly harvested sugarcane and bananas. Later the family sits down to a ritual meal.

Dedicated to cattle

The following day’s Mattu Pongal is dedicated to cattle. Cattle play an important part in farming, thus Mattu Pongal is the day when the cattle are worshipped and given a day of rest. They are bathed, their horns painted with shining colours and then they are fed and taken to the village centre where the devotees offer them flower garlands.

Mattu Pongal honours cattle

A festival called Jalli Kattu is held in many places in Tamil Nadu, a taming or controlling of the savage bull for a reward for heroism with the participation by young men. Bundles of money are tied to the horns of ferocious bulls which the villagers try to retrieve. Everyone joins in the community meal, at which the food is made of the freshly harvested grain.

Mattu Pongal honours cattle

                     



Wish you all a Happy and a Prosperous New year 2020