{"id":154490,"date":"2026-02-03T17:13:34","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T00:13:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=154490"},"modified":"2026-02-03T17:13:34","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T00:13:34","slug":"the-purpose-of-independence-celebrations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2026\/02\/03\/the-purpose-of-independence-celebrations\/","title":{"rendered":"The Purpose of Independence Celebrations"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><em><strong>Senaka Weeraratna<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Purpose of Independence Celebrations by Senaka Weeraratna\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/z84rkyfjNHg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Experience the heartfelt patriotism and cultural pride of Sri Lanka\u2019s Independence Day celebrations on February 4th, 2025.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This special event, held at the scenic ViharaMahaDevi Park in Colombo, brought together like-minded individuals to honor the heroes\u2014past and present\u2014who have sacrificed life and limb for the country.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In this opening address, Attorney-at-Law Senaka Weeraratna sets the tone for the gathering, emphasizing the spirit of patriotism, love, and gratitude that underpins the commemoration. Following his speech, the audience joined in singing the Jayamangala Gatha (Blessings of Success) and cherished Sinhala Jathika Geetha (Patriotic National Songs), accompanied by an orchestra specializing in Sinhala Oriental Music.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Parents, children, and friends filled the open-air venue, surrounded by flowers, greenery, and the gentle sounds of water from the nearby lake. This intimate yet significant celebration resonates with the roots of Sinhala culture and civilization, raising the collective spirit of Sri Lankans both at home and abroad.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jaya Shree!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Senaka Weeraratna Experience the heartfelt patriotism and cultural pride of Sri Lanka\u2019s Independence Day celebrations on February 4th, 2025.&nbsp; This special event, held at the scenic ViharaMahaDevi Park in Colombo, brought together like-minded individuals to honor the heroes\u2014past and present\u2014who have sacrificed life and limb for the country.&nbsp; In this opening address, Attorney-at-Law Senaka Weeraratna [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[165],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-154490","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-senaka-weeraratna"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154490","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=154490"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154490\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":154491,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154490\/revisions\/154491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=154490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=154490"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=154490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}