Thousands of tsunami survivors lined up at a make-shift soup kitchen here Saturday as the country staged religious services to mark the third month anniversary of the natural disaster.

This coastal resort town which is known for its coral reefs staged a series of Buddhist ceremonies to invoke blessings for some 400 people from here who perished in the December 26 tsunamis.

The mayor of the town, Manoj Krishantha Jayasuriya, said the religious observances will be continued throughout the weekend to honor those who died in the tsunamis, a total of nearly 31,000 people across the country.

"We had about 8,500 families here displaced by the tsunami," Jayasuriya said at a park where meals were served for survivors under a giant white canvass tent which could accommodate 400 diners at a single sitting.

A free health clinic organised here for the homeless had to be shifted further inland amid fears that there could be another sea surge, Jayasuriya said.

He said government restrictions on reconstruction within a 100 metre stretch of land along the coast was making it difficult for survivors to go back and rebuild their homes.

Even the local police station is within the 100 metre zone and technically cannot be rebuilt.

Large numbers turned up at the soup-kitchen which arranged free meals for an estimated 10,000 people as part of religious services along the island's coastal areas to mark the three month anniversary.

At a nearby temple, survivors offered electrical appliances and food to hundreds of saffron-robed Buddhist monks hoping bring honor to their loved ones who died in the December sea surge.

An evening candle light vigil will be held at the site where a train carrying as many as 1,500 passengers was hit by the tsunamis at Telwatte, just south of here.

About 200 to 300 people were estimated to have survived when the train was submerged and washed away by the waves.

Yamuna Guruge, an insurance saleswoman, said she and her nine-year-old daughter were still homeless three months after the disaster and did not believe that they would be helped by the state.

"We don't have anything," Guruge said while she stood in the sweltering sun awaiting her turn to enter the soup kitchen. "Our house was damaged and what was left was looted."