The Sri Lankan community in Qatar celebrated the 70th Independence Day of their nation with a cultural programme at Qatar National Convention Centre (QNCC). 
The event was organised by the Sri Lankan embassy in collaboration with Sri Lanka Co-ordinating Committee (SLCC) Qatar. Ambassador A S P Liyanage was the chief guest. 
Also present were Doha Bank CEO Dr R Seetharaman, Sri Lankan embassy’s minister counsellor R Kohularangan, Sri Lankan Airlines country manager (Doha) Balakrishnan Pirathapan, Readymix Qatar chief financial officer Sujeewa Ranasinghe, Dar Al Sharq foreign publications manager Neegal Noronha, Accra Group managing director Nuwan Samarakoon, Rev Fr Bennet and officials from Qatar Ministry of Interior’s Public Relations Department.
Ooredoo was the platinum sponsor of the programme with St Regis Doha as the hospitality partner. 
The programme began with the lighting of the traditional oil lamp, a welcome speech by SLCC president Sanath Kohowilage, speeches by ambassador Liyanage and Dr R Seetharaman followed by the presentation of awards of excellence and unveiling of the 70th Independence Day souvenir. 
The Pathum Danansooriya Cultural Ensemble who were flown in from Sri Lanka for the celebrations performed many items such as the pooja dance, raban dance, folk dance, kolam dance, a dance depicting an elephant, mask dance, kandyan dance, wadigapatuna, nagaskanya, pandampaliya, gajaga natuma, drum orchestra performance, magul bera and ending with the theme hastha padha nadha featuring the cultural troupe performing on stage to live music and the beating of drums. 
The audiences were enthralled with their scintillating performance on stage. This was their first visit to Doha. Famous singer Tissa Jayawardana also performed at the celebrations.