Sri Lanka has claimed to unveil the World's tallest artificial Christmas tree in the capital city.
According to Colombo Page, despite delays the construction of the 57-meter long tree located along the seaside promenade of Galle Face Green in the capital city was completed on Saturday.
According to an organizer, the giant tress which is placed along with a six-meter Santa and a 12-metre sleigh will be lit with 600,000 colored LED bulbs in the evening.
The construction of the tree was delayed after Archbishop of Colombo Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith protested the idea of Port and Shipping Minister Arjuna Ranatunga calling the initiative a waste of money.
After Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's intervention the construction was resumed on December 12.
However, the delay of about 10 days forced the organizers to shorten the structure by almost half; the construction was scheduled to be completed on December 20.
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"Our target was 100 metres, but construction delays forced us to cut down the height," said event coordinator Mangala Gunasekera.
Although, the targeted height was not achieved, the tree has still surpassed the records set by other countries, to become the "World's Largest Christmas Tree".
According to the official the tree is two meters taller than an artificial Christmas tree erected in the southern Chinese province of Guangzhou last year.
The Sri Lankan claim is subject to confirmation by the Guinness World Records.