The Commercial Bank has begun work on renovating two sections of the steps to the summit of Sri Pada for the benefit of thousands of pilgrims who make the trek up Sri Lanka’s holy mountain. The Bank’s CSR Trust has allocated substantial funds for the project, which entails repairs to the steps between lamp posts 192 to 212 and 247 to 260, on the stretch leading up to Seetha Gangula.
The work in two phases is due to be completed in December, before the commencement of next Sri Pada worshipping season. Labour for the project is provided by the Civil Defence Force.
This is the second occasion that Commercial Bank has undertaken restoration of the pathway up Sri Pada. Commercial Bank’s Maskeliya Branch has undertaken to coordinate the project, liaising with suppliers to arrange the building materials, and the Civil Defence Force unit attached to Sri Pada.
The Commercial Bank previously funded the reconstruction of the pathway between Seetha Gangula and Thenna in 2008.
Sri Pada is revered as a holy site by several religions and annually thousands of pilgrims climb the steps up this holy mountain to worship. It is of particular significance to Buddhists due to the belief that the foot print of Ix>rd Buddha is imprinted on top of the mountain.
The peak pilgrimage season is in April. Preserving Sri Lanka’s cultural heritage is one of the focus areas of the CSR Trust of Commercial Bank. Two of the main projects it has completed in this sphere are the construction of a Museum at Krivehera and the renovation of the lamp posts donated by the Bank to Dambulla Temple.
Commercial Bank contributes a percentage of its post tax profits annually to its CSR Trust, established in 2004. The Bank defines the overall goal of its CSR policy as ‘to generate measurable and sustainable social dividends for different segments of society, in particular those which require empowerment and enrichment’.
Other initiatives of Commercial Bank’s CSR Trust include donation of IT laboratories to schools, presenting scholarships and laptops to undergraduates, providing English education to rural school children, supporting healthcare projects around the country and supporting facilities for war heroes.
The only Sri Lankan Bank to be listed three years consecutively in the world’s Top 1,000 Bank’s, Commercial Bank operates a network of 235 branches and 590 ATMs in Sri Lanka. Ranked the most valuable private sector brand in the country in 2014, the Bank has won multiple awards as Sri Lanka’s best bank over several years, and was adjudged one of the country’s 10 best corporate citizens by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce in 2013.
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