Sri Lankan pedestrians walk past a partially-constructed Christmas tree in Colombo.
Their Christmas tree should break all records. The Sri Lankans have erected, despite many delays, the tallest artificial Christmas tree in the world (this will need to be confirmed by Guinness World Records). Its height: 57 meters. It will be illuminated Saturday evening by 600,000 colored bulbs, and adorned with a six-meter Santa Claus with a twelve-meter sled.
Sri Lanka claimed on Saturday that it broke the record for the world’s tallest artificial Christmas tree, despite construction delays due to opposition from the local church.
The tree was erected at the initiative of cricketer Arjuna Ranatunga in the capital Colombo. On Saturday morning, it was about 57 meters, according to the project coordinator, Mangala Gunasekera, two meters more than an artificial tree erected last year in the Chinese province of Guangzhou (south).
The Guinness Book of Records has yet to confirm that this Christmas tree, which was originally supposed to reach 100 meters, is the tallest in the world.
600,000 bulbs to light it up tonight
It will be illuminated Saturday evening by 600,000 colored bulbs, and adorned with a six-meter Santa Claus with a twelve-meter sled.
The project, costing some $ 200,000, encountered opposition from the Catholic Church, which felt that the money should instead be donated to charity. The church’s opposition “caused a ten-day delay in building” the tree, Gunasekera said.
It took Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s intervention with the Archbishop of Colombo Malcolm Ranjith to convince him to give his blessing to the project.
Sri Lanka is a predominantly Buddhist country, and Catholics are estimated at some 1.2 million out of a total population of 21 million.
More Stories
Attacks in Sri Lanka. Police chief refuses to leave despite president’s injunction
Sri Lanka. 140 people wanted, a shooting in the east of the country
Sri Lanka. Wave of attacks in hotels and churches on Easter Day: more than 200 dead