Download A Grand Vesak at Cinnamon Grand Cinnamon Grand Colombo

A Grand Vesak at Cinnamon Grand
Cinnamon Grand Colombo celebrated Vesak over the weekend, paying homage to Sri Lanka’s cultural
and religious heritage. The Vesak festivities at the hotel offered both local and foreign visitors a chance
to experience vesak at its best. Cinnamon Grand’s talented staff played a key role in recreating the
Vesak experience this year. The creation of beautifully crafted vesak lanterns to decorate the hotel, a
drink Dansala (saruwathdansala) at Nuga Gama and even a special BakthiGeetha session at the village in
the city were some of the key activities conducted by the staff. The Dansala alone drew over 1690
people.
The Grand’s engineering department headed by PandukaWijeyawardena was responsible for the
beautiful lanterns that adorned the gardens in the front of the hotel. The team chose the symbolic white
lotus which in Buddhism represents purity of the mind and the spirit as the vesak theme this year. The
significance of the Lotus is emphasized in Buddhist scriptures since seven lotus flowers appeared on the
ground when the young Buddha took his first seven steps when he was born.
The Engineering team created a stunning visual effect with three lotus pillars at the entrance and a
profusion of dainty smaller lotus flowers scattered across the garden in picturesque setting. The
painstaking and detailed process involved hours of hard work with the use of a variety of different
materials with a total of 47 flowers displayed. The hotel’s porch was also decorated with a charming but
Grand lantern which had 21 additional beautifully detailed lanterns attached to it.
Different departmental representatives also put together a BakthiGeetha team to entertain guests and
restaurant patrons at Nuga Gama in keeping with typical village traditions. The team comprised of Anton
Fernandopulle (F&B),KumuduJayathilake (Front Office),Gamini Silva (F&B), PoojithaJagathpriya (F&B),
DeepikaSatyapala (Front Office), ZahiraJumat (F&B), NisansalaAlwis (F&B),Taniya De Buyzer (F&B),
NilminiKumari (F&B),RushaniJayakody (Marketing Communications & Sustainability)and
DevindaAbeyweera (Human Resources).