The stage is set for the ‘big battle’ between the Commander in Chief President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the former army Chief Sarath Fonseka. After the close of the nomination yesterday, the two leaders will kick off their Presidential campaign today with Rajapaksa addressing people at Anuradhapura while Sarath Fonseka will attend to his maiden political rally at Kandy.<br/><br/>The two venues chosen by these two candidates to launch their campaigns officially have both religious and historical significance. Anuradhapura is an ancient capital of a kingdom that ended at the beginning of the second millennium around 1000 AD. Maha Bodhiya, a tree believed to hail from the ancient tree that provided shade to Lord Buddha to attain enlightenment is in Anuradhapura.<br/><br/>Kandy, the hill town is the capital of the last Sinhala kingdom that fell to the English colonials in 1815 due to internal mutiny. The sacred tooth relic of Lord Buddha, a symbol of kingship is in Kandy and is revered by the Sinhalese population of Sri Lanka..<br/><br/>Both cities are equally significant to the Buddhists , which is the majority religion of the island. Besides, both the towns have been hit earlier in a major way by the tiger rebels.<br/><br/> <br/>