On 09 June 2025, Mr. and Mrs. Jeff Crespi met with Ambassador Mahinda Samarasinghe to facilitate the handover of the Mounted Mural, which commemorates the inaugural ordination ceremony at the Bhāvanā Society in 1989, conducted under the auspicious leadership of The Chief Sangha Nayaka Thera for North America, Aggamaha Pandita Most Venerable (Dr.) Henepola Gunarathna Thero. Mr. Crespi previously exhibited the mural at the Freer and Sackler Gallery, part of the Smithsonian.

Upon taking possession of the historic mural, Ambassador Samarasinghe took a decision to formally present the Photo Mural to the Bhāvanā Society on 15 June 2025, in the presence of Most Venerable Henepola Gunarathna Thero, who is currently 98 years old and actively engaged in meditation at the Bhāvanā Society in West Virginia.

The inaugural ordination ceremony occurred on 22 July 1989 at the Bhāvanā Society, a monastery and meditation retreat center established by Venerable Henepola Gunarathna Thero. in 1985. This ceremony represented a significant advancement in the establishment of an indigenous Sangha (community of monks and nuns) in the Theravada tradition within the United States.  The ordination ceremony constituted a pivotal event in the development of Theravada monastic life in the United States, with Venerable Henepola Gunarathna Thero giving leadership in supporting the growth of the Sangha in the U.S.