Laksala Museum was crowded with over 2000 tourists

The ‘National Museum Gallery Café "the state-of-the-art showroom" which is located in the Colombo Museum, welcomed more than 2000 tourists of MSC Magnifica cruise ship came by 52 buses yesterday (09th). MSC Passengers arrived in Museum showroom from 9.30 am to 3.30pm on a special bus service operated from the Port of Colombo.

They were impressed by the quality of the products on sale such as Gem & Jewellery, Textile (Handloom and Batik), Tea, Wood Carving, SPA, Spices and Leather at Laksala and the craftsmanship displayed by skilful local artisans in carving intricate and delicate designs into artefacts. These visitors had a perfect opportunity to experience arts and crafts under one roof while their short tour in Colombo.

MSC Magnifica , which has been operated by MSC Cruise, is the eleventh ship in the cruise line’s fleet and the fourth Panamax cruise vessel in its Musica class. It is worth around US 550m and built by STX Europe. The ship is a sister ship to the MSC Musica, MSC Orchestra and MSC Poesia. The Magnifica was delivered on 25 February 2010 and started its maiden voyage in March in the same year. The Magnifica has 1,259 passenger cabins. The ship can accommodate 2,518 passengers and 1,027 crew members. The 93.330t cruise ship is 294m long, 32m wide, 59.6m high and complies with the Panama canal standard. It can sail at a maximum speed of 23kt.

Indian Defence Secretary’s wife visits Laksala

 Mrs. Mitra asks Assistant Manager Mr. Rumesh
Karunasoma about a decorated wooden elephant 

Mrs.  Anuradha  Mitra, the wife of Indian Defence Secretary Mr. Shi Sanjay Mitra, visited Laksala at Thummulla this morning (08th) during her short visit in Sri Lanka. She walked around the showroom and was delighted with handicrafts products on display. Mrs. Mitra was pleased with Laksala’s ambition to support handicraftsmen in Sri Lanka.

Diplomats, both local and foreign dignitaries and high profile figures always visit Laksala frequently to see the most genuine and traditional handicrafts in Sri Lanka as Laksala plays an important role of fostering the arts and crafts of the island nationally.

Laksala is at the “Colombo Shopping Festival 2019"

Laksala stall AC5 in Hall A is open yesterday (06th) at the “ 29th Colombo Shopping Festival”, the premier shopping festival which is held between the 6th – 11th of April 2019 at the BMICH.

A wide selection of high-quality batiks and handlooms for men, women and children are on sale with special Sinhala and New Year discounts. Those who visit Laksala stall will receive exclusive discount coupons which can be used at Laksala Thummulla showroom. Please do not miss out this opportunity.  

A 25% price reduction in Gem & Jewellery

Laksala together with the Ministry of Industry and Commerce felicitate government employees a 25% price deduction for Gem % Jewellery as a token of appreciation in this Sinhala and Hindu New Year. Accordingly, this exclusive offer is presented to every employee in the government sector in recognition of their dedicated service.
 
If you work for the government, then Laksala requires you to prove that you work as government employees to take advantage of this price deduction. In many cases, your national ID card or a letter from the head of your department confirming your employment is sufficient.  It is your responsibility to substantiate your status as a public-sector worker. If you cannot provide proof, you cannot qualify for this offer which is valid till 30th this month. You could visit 12 Laksala showrooms located throughout the country to claim the above appreciation.

Batiks and Handlooms up to 20% discounted prices

If you want to buy locally made Batiks and Handlooms, this is your only chance because Laksala has introduced exclusive seasonal offers and you will be saving a huge amount of money in this festive season. Specially Sinhalese and Hindu New Year is all about buying new clothes for your family, loved ones and yourself.  High-quality men and women wear are available for discounted prices during this festive season. You could visit 12 Laksala showrooms located throughout the country and buy all your clothing at discounted prices today.

When you are in Laksala,  there are so many other products such as Gem & Jewellery, Tea, Wood Carving, SPA, Spices, Ceramic, Leather, Rush & Reed that you can buy at an affordable price too.

Grand welcome for MV Queen Victoria at Laksala

Hundreds of passengers of MV Queen Victoria arrived in Laksala at Thummulla, Colombo 07 on 29th this month received a grand welcome. Visitors entered Laksala throughout the day amidst traditional Kandyan dancing and drumming. They reached the flagship store from 9.30 am 5.30pm on a special shuttle bus service operated from the Port of Colombo.

Tourists visited had an opportunity to see how wooden masks and elephants were carved by skilful craftsmen who were on Laksala premises and they were delighted with handicrafts products on sale in the showroom. The management at Laksalka had prepared special arrangements such as various traditional dancing events to entertain passengers. Whenever this ocean liner arrives in Sri Lanka, tourists onboard visited Laksala as usual.

The MV Queen Victoria, which has been the second largest Cunard ship ever built next to the Queen Mary II, is a UK-registered ship operated by Cunard. The £270m worth, 294m long and a 90,000t cruise ship constructed by Fincantieri Maritimo in Maghera near Venice in Italy. The ship has a passenger capacity of 2,014 with 1,001 crew and 1,007 cabins (creating a passenger to crew ratio of 2:1). Around 86% of staterooms are outside and 71% of staterooms have balconies. There is 10,000ft of open deck space. The vessel’s maiden voyage from Southampton (its home port) took place on 11 December 2007.

Laksala opens the door to children with special needs

Laksala really wants for children with special needs to be happy and fulfilling life, and also believes that they could build a strong sense of self-confidence and a solid foundation for lifelong success with encouragement and the right support. Therefore, the management at Laksala has already made a decision to support children with special needs of the Child Guidance Center (CGC) at Maharagama, which is governed by the Department of Social Service, under its Cooperate Social Responsibility (CSR) project.

Children from CGC at Maharagama presenting dance at Laksala

A dance troupe from CGC visited Laksala premises at Thummulla, Colombo 07  and entertained European tourists with a delightful performance on 29th this month. Tourists were delighted with children’s presentation and applauded at the end of it.  

Mrs. R. A. D . Hansani and Mrs. Sujani Udawatta and two pre-school teachers of the centre at Maharagama accompanied these children and in a special interview Mrs. R. A. D . Hansani said “  We have around 120 children at our centre in Maharagama. Our vision is to create a conducive environment for children with special needs to live just as same as others to maintain interrelations with family members and community and optimally using available strengths and resources.”

“The specialty of our center is interventions to provide services at a very early age (from 03 months), providing services to any child with physical, mental disabilities or any other special needs, interventions for development of children through(Multi-Disciplinary Team Work), offering services as per special methodologies for client children(Individual Assessment - Progress Review), providing services to each child as per an Individual Education Plan (IEP), referring to preschools and formal school system after developing basic skills, focusing primary attention on the development of day-to-day life skills, providing post-care services for children referred to preschools and formal education, services being rendered by trained staff with requisite qualifications and experience and adopting a holistic approach which pays attention to all stakeholders (Client Children/Parents/Family Members/Community etc).”

Mrs. R. A. D. Hansani and Mrs. Sujani Udawatta
Pre-school Teachers at CGC

Mrs. Sujani Udawatta added " We provide special services for parents and family members of children with special needs. They are psychological and counselling services for mental development, health educational service programmes, religious programmes (sil and meditation programmes, christmas celebration, pilgrimages to prominent places of worship, educational tours and picnics), conducting internal and external programmes under nature therapy academy and programmes for brothers and sisters of families.”

“ We are also conducting occupational therapy, speech and language therapy and physiotherapy for these children. We would like to remind that Mrs. G. L. L. Gunasinghe, Superintendent of our centre, works with great enthusiasm and dedication to achieve the goals of our centre.”