YOUNG MONK APPRENTICES PAY OBEISANCE TO THEIR PARENTS, 1999-05-25 (photo)

Young monk apprentices, clad in white, pay obeisance to their parents and other elders for the last time May 25 in Colombo before donning yellow robes to enter the Sassna (path to monkhood). The young boys are undergoing a series of Buddhist ordination rituals at a temple at Ragama, a suburb of Colombo. The yellow robed monks, regardless of their age, are revered by Sri Lankans. Earlier in the day, sixteen young boys aged between 9 and 15 years were ordained at a temple ceremony, which coincides with a week of religious festivities for Vesak or Buddha Purnima, which is celebrated this year on May 29. AL/LCY/JIR