Source: Beliefnet
Wire Service: AP
http://www.beliefnet.com/story/162/story_16284_1.html
On March 25, 2005 the Associated Press reported, "At a 300-year-old Buddhist temple near where the Asian tsunami swept up to 2,000 people aboard a train to their deaths, dozens of monks chanted blessings Friday at an all-night ceremony to help the wandering spirits of those killed three months ago. As night fell on this southern coastal area devastated by the Dec. 26 tsunami, women wearing white saris sat on mats and prayed with folded hands, some holding the holy Lotus flower and burning incense sticks. Monks chanted hymns continuously throughout the night for the spirits of the dead to be reborn. Special prayers were planned this weekend for residents of Peraliya, a village close to the Janagangarama temple, which was annihilated when waves described by survivors as big as elephants smashed into Sri Lanka's coastline."