THE KALUTARA BODHI TRUST (KBT) was established in 1951, pioneered by the late President of the Senate, Proctor SC and NP, tireless Buddhist worker, businessman and philanthropist par excellence, Sir Cyril de Zoysa. He ably mustered the support of six other lawyers on the Kalutara Bar and the distinguished Cambridge University alumnus and erudite Barrister-at-Law, Sir Ernest de Silva, to serve as Trustees. He offered the chair of the Board to Sir Ernest and prevailed on this eminent planter, banker, philatelist and great philanthropist, to accept it. This team of dedicated Buddhists spelt out the mission of the KBT as the preservation for posterity, of the Kalutara Bodhi Tree, its precincts and all that they symbolize. This magnificent mission entailed broadly the preservation of the Buddha Sasana, the propagation of the Buddha Dhamma, fostering the Sangha and benevolence towards all beings – human, animal and plant – yes, plant life too. To this end, the KBT engages in a number of activities, a few snippets about which may be brought into focus. |  |
The services of the KBT to humanity is marked by its efforts to minister to the spiritual needs of man, the opportunity to worship, gaze at the sacred Bodhi Tree in contemplation and meditation, to observe the five, the eight and even the ten precepts, to give ear to the preaching of the Dhamma and the chanting of Pirith; then to provide food to the devotees, on specific days such as the Full-Moon or Poya days; to provide the four basic requisites, clothing, food, medicine and shelter to the elderly and the unable, in Homes that the KBT maintains; so to orphans, and to other children in order to empower them through support for their education - and much more The KBT conducts several community service projects such as educational programmes in Dhamma Schools, provision of text books for the education of the Sangha in the Kalutara District, a health care fund, a ward for Buddhist monks at the Kalutara National Hospital, blood donation programmes, Homes for Elders, financial and managerial support to Children’s Homes, most recently, a post-tsunami Housing Project and several other such undertakings . Service to animals is marked significantly by a special programme designed to release cattle marked for slaughter, where people are offered opportunity to participate in the release programme. The KBT extends additional financial support for the maintenance of these animals, mainly at Tantirimale, in the Anuradhapura District. On almost every Full Moon or Poya day, ten or fifteen heads of cattle are saved from the butcher’s carving knife and handed over to an occasional volunteer willing to provide care, or mostly transported to dairy farmers through the distribution point at Tantirimale. A special fund is maintained for this purpose |
As for the preservation of plant life in which the KBT is engaged, there is none other than the Sacred Bodhi Tree, the Sri Maha Bodhi at Anuradhapura, which surpasses, if at all, the care and protection that the KBT bestows upon the Sacred Bodhi Tree at Kalutara. Trees, bushes and plants, both flowering and foliage too are carefully tended within the Bodhi premises. Gardeners are provided with basic training at the National Botanical Gardens at Peradeniya and with periodical refresher courses. |  |
