ANANADA 125 CELEBRATIONS

Olcott Statue Unveiled in Franklin, New Jersey September 10th 2011

A U.S. Civil War Colonel.  An Icon in Sri Lanka.

 The ceremonial unveiling of the statue of Col. Henry Steel Olcott took place on Saturday September 10, 2011 at the New Jersey Buddhist Vihara grounds in Franklin, New Jersey. A large gathering of Sri Lankan Americans were joined by Buddhist monks, United States Congressman Rush Holt, Mayor of Franklin Brian Levine, Deputy Speaker of New Jersey State Assembly Upendra Chivukula, NJ State Senator Christopher Bateman, several elected officials from the towns of Franklin and Somerset, U.S State Dept. desk officer for Sri Lanka Emily Fleckner, Board members of Theosophical society of USA led by Ed Abdill, Ambassador Jaliya Wickramasuriya - Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to the US, Ambassador Dr. Palitha Kohona - Sri Lanka’s Permanent  Representative to U.N, General Shavendra Silva - Deputy Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka  to the U.N, and Mr. Esala Weerakoon - Deputy Chief of Mission at Sri Lanka Embassy in Washington at the unveiling ceremony. It is very significant that the statue of Col. Olcott was unveiled only 35 miles from his birth place in New Jersey at a site which has already become a landmark by the presence of the largest Samadhi Buddha Statue in the Western hemisphere. Congressman Holt, Mayor Levine, Senator Bateman, Assemblyman Chivukula, and State Department official Emily Fleckner all echoed similar sentiments in addressing the gathering in discussing the significance of the service of Col. Olcott  to Sri Lanka  in the nineteenth century  and  the value that the unveiled statue would have as a perpetual reminder of the bond between the people of the United States and Sri Lanka.Prof J.B. Disanayake in his keynote address gave a comprehensive account of life & service of Col OLcott. The Olcott statue was sculpted by Ven. Ratnapure Nanda in Colombo under the direction of Tilak Ranaviraja, who was Deputy Ambassador of Sri Lanka in Washington at one time and donated by his family members. Ambassador Jaliya Wickramasuriya and the staff at the Sri Lankan Embassy provided a great deal of logistical support towards the project, which included providing assistance with the transportation of the statue from Sri Lanka to New Jersey. Ambassador Dr Palitha Kohona & Deputy Premanent representative Gen Shavendra Silva of  U.N.Mission provided assistance with the invitations. According to Dr Wije Kottahachchi, President of the Ananda College Old Boys group and the Chairman of the Olcott statue organizing committee, “this monument of Col. Olcott is a symbol of gratitude from the Buddhists of Sri Lanka to a great American.

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