The Puttalam district, an example of coexistence, is the heart of the celebrations that the government has organized for the most important annual Buddhist festival. Activities include a drug prevention program and blood donation. Card. Ranjith: “May this festival elevate everyone to righteousness and a holy life.”
Colombo () – On the occasion of the Buddhist festival of Vesak, religious and charity programs are taking place throughout Sri Lanka this week. Vesak is the most important and sacred festival for Buddhists around the world. It corresponds to the day of the full moon in May and is celebrated as the thrice blessed anniversary of the most important events in the life of the Buddha: his birth at Lumbini, enlightenment at Buddhagaya, and entrance into Mahaparinirvana (death) at Kushinagar. . The General Assembly of the United Nations, with resolution 54/115 of 1999, has also internationally recognized Vesak Day and the contribution that Buddhism, one of the oldest religions in the world, has offered to the world for more than two years. millennia and a half.
In Sri Lanka the main festival organized by the government was held today in the Puttalam district at the Kebellewala Sri Rathanasiri Bhikkhu and Maha Pirivena in Chilaw, with the theme “Discerning right as wrong and wrong as right leads to states of misfortune “.
It is the first time that the government has organized a Vesak festival in the Puttalam district, where people of different ethnicities and religions live together in harmony. “The public celebration of Vesak 2023 is a blessing for the Puttalam district – the head of the local temple, Ven Halpanwila Palitha Thero, told . I am very happy to receive this great blessing. Along with other activities, such as meditations and the display of beautiful Vesak pandols and lanterns, we have also organized an environmental protection program, a drug prevention program, and blood donations.”
The Archbishop of Colombo, Card. Malcolm Ranjith, also sent his congratulations to the top Sangha leaders of Sri Lanka and all the brothers and sisters of Buddhism, wishing them a Vesak holiday filled with religious faith and joy. “On this great occasion, all Sri Lankans pray for a great Vesak festival that will elevate everyone to righteousness and a holy existence,” reads the message sent to the Buddhist community. Cardinal Ranjith adds that it is a duty of all practice brotherhood and mutual acceptance between the different ethnic groups and religions of Sri Lanka, developing more and more the virtues of Dharma.
