Mayans on the Verge of a World Record

Students of Mahamaya Girls' college have organized an honorable event to celebrate their 89th anniversary. No one has done a thing like this before. And young Mayans succeeded in gaining a world record under their name.

Mayans if not students of Mahamaya Girls’ College, Kandy are on the verge of a world record. They have organized an extraordinary eye-catching event for the 89th anniversary of their Alma Mater which no other school has ever done.

Bit of Mayans History,

Mahamaya Girls’ College, Kandy is a leading school on the island. It has nearly 4000 students enrolled at present. with remarkable glorious history. In the first half of the 20th century Sri Lanka was under the British Monarch. And after British invaded the up country they only focused on catholic schools. There was a huge need for Buddhist schools at the time. Specially there was a need for a Buddhist girls’ school.

This glorious school began her journey as a result of that neediness. In 1932 Mahamaya College started her proud life. On 14 January 1932 to be exact. And at first her name wasn’t the same as of today. Her name was Buddhist Ladies College at the beginning. And in a few years she got her present name as Mahamaya Girls’ College Kandy.

Prideful Mayans.

Though many years have passed, she still stands with pride & honor. She presented the world with many beautiful, intelligent & educated girls throughout these years. Many prominent characters grew up under her shade. That brilliant mother celebrated her 89th birthday not long ago.

Mother Maya has a great vision to raise her daughters in to modest Sri Lankan, Buddhist ladies. Proving she’s successful in that vision young Mayans repaid their alma mater in a very special and unique way. They also asked their teachers & old girls to join with them for this valuable occasion.

Mayans couldn’t celebrate their 89th anniversary as usual due the global corona pandemic. But they took this challenging period as a blessing & used it to repay their alma mater in a unique way. Though they were all stuck in homes they didn’t forget their school’s birthday. Instead, they celebrated the 89th anniversary of Mahamaya Girls’ College Kandy in a very honorable way.

Mahamaya Girls College Kandy Dalada Upahara — Picture Copyrights by Mahamaya Girls College Kandy Photographic Society

“Mahamaya Panhiden Dalada Upahara”

Their 89th anniversary celebration was named “Mahamaya Panhiden Dalada Upahara.” What is this event? Who took part in it? Let‘s dig in some information about it.

At the beginning the idea for this event was born in the head of one person. It’s non other than Mr. M.M. Senevirathne who is a teacher in school’s staff. He discussed this precious idea with the school principal at the time Mrs. E.W.L.K. Egodawela. She also liked the idea and called in a staff meeting to discuss the event.

What did they do so special? Mayans used to offer flower offerings to the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic on their school anniversary. They decided to offer books instead of flowers this time. You might think they have offered the books they bought from a store for a price. No. They had great intentions far away from that. They thought of writing those books by them selves. What a great idea. Isn’t it?

Mayans gathered as one,

All the Mayans gathered around this idea as one. Not only students, but also teachers & old girls joined to succeed this. Girls from age 5 to 19 sent their creative works to this great deed with such an interest. Specialty in this course is most of them wrote those books when they were stuck in their houses because of the pandemic holidays.

Mr. Senevirathne asked the madam principal & showed her that this will develop the skills of the college students. When the madam principal Mrs. E.W.L.K.Egodawela gave the permission, teachers informed details to the students via WhatsApp social media. The students were asked to write poems, short stories, arts, novels & biographies. Not only them but also they were asked to write about nature, history, Mahamaya College, The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic or whatever subject they want to write. As Mr. Senevirathne says students wrote more than 5000 books.

As I said before not only student came across for this deed. Some old girls & teachers supported the project by writing few books. Among them there are books written by the current principal of the school Mrs. Dulani Samarakoon & the person who led the program Mr.Senevirathne. Parents of the children supported in printing books. But because of the state country was under they couldn’t print all the books the children wrote. Somehow they Managed to print 2564 books for the event.

Why is it 2564 instead of 2500 or 2600? There was a special reason behind that as well. They thought of offering these books commemorating the 2564th “Sambudhdha Jayanthi.” This event took place on 15th January 2021 at the premises of the temple of the sacred tooth relic.

How it went,

On the day few of the Mayans who wrote books, few of the teaching staff & few parents joined in for the event. All the students & teachers couldn’t gather as this period is not good for huge gatherings. And all the things in the event was done according to the health rules & regulations imposed by the government.

The temple of the tooth relic informs that, no one before Mayans had done this kind of offering to the temple. Usually the temple of the tooth relic is offered with flowers & food. Tus they say, this is the very first time that someone offered this much of books to the temple. That’s why this became a world record.

After the morning religious event in the temple of tooth relic, there was a small event at the school premises. They released all these books at that event held at the auditorium of Mahamaya Girls’ College, Kandy.

If we look deeper into the ones who wrote these books you will be quite amazed. A young girl who’s only 6 wrote 9 books by her self. Her name is Sehanya Alweera, and she studies in grade 2-B of Mahamaya Girls’ College. This young Mayan wrote 8 Sinhala books and one English book by her self. She wrote these books using her own experiences. All her classmates wrote books with her as well.

Among the books written by the teaching staff, there was a book called “Authentic Education.” This was written by the current principal of the school Mrs. Dulani Samarakoon.

Appreciable Mayans.

This wasn’t the first time that Mr. Senevirathne led this kind of events. He organized this kind of events in the schools he worked before as well. He gathered Mayans for this kind of occasion back in 2017 as well. It was for the retirement of their previous principal Mrs. Indra Withanachchi. They wrote 150 books for her retirement.

A young girl child filled with both knowledge & good attitude is a jewel for the society. She will be the pride of her parents, her school & her country. Mahamaya Girls’ College produced this kind of jewels for 89 years for now. And she will produce thousands from tomorrow onwards as well. This is how she manage to create good attitudes inside of the girls under her shade.

So let’s give them a big round of appreciation as this awaked both knowledge & creativity inside these Girls. And we should appreciate the dedication they paid at a time like this. Of course, they should be appreciated as they offered their most precious attributes to Lord Budhdha, their knowledge, creativity & goodwill.