The holy festival of Vesak, which commemorates the birth, enlightenment, and passing of the historical Buddha, Shakyamuni, is celebrated on different dates throughout the Buddhist world. While in Thailand and Cambodia, for example, the holiday was celebrated earlier in March as Makha Bucha Day, Sri Lanka observed the occasion at the beginning of May.
Vesak lantern celebrations in Colombo. From lankatrail.com
In his Vesak message, the Sri Lankan president Maithripala Sirisena said that a society based on coexistence, equality, and justice should be nurtured by the brahmavihara, or the four virtues of loving kindness, compassion, empathetic joy, and equanimity. News 1st quoted Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe’s appeal to Sri Lankans in a separate message to make Vesak more than a “mere celebration” and to join hands and build a righteous society marked by spiritual purification.
The British high commissioner to Sri Lanka, James Dauris, also sent wishes for Vesak with a message on the website of the British High Commission, Colombo, which reads: “I am delighted to extend my warmest wishes to everyone in Sri Lanka celebrating Vesak. The Buddha’s teachings of dignity, tolerance and respect for all continue to be as important today as they have always been, in Sri Lanka and in countries around the world. On this special celebration of the Buddha’s enlightenment, I wish everyone celebrating this important festival a blessed Vesak.”
The actual celebrations took place on 3 and 4 May, the most important days during the period designated as “Vesak Week,” from 30 April to 6 May. Three stamps were also issued to mark the festivities.
On 3 May, celebrations were held at “Vesak Zones” throughout the country. At the historical pilgrimage town of Kataragama, devotees flocked to the Kataragamam temple (where Buddhists honor the god Kataragama as their own alongside Hindus and other people of faith) for the Hiru Shakya Sinha Vesak ceremony. The day featured meditation programs, Dhamma discussions, and the lighting of candles in the evening. Meanwhile, soldiers and civilians alike celebrated at the Vesak Zone in the city of Jaffna with lights and a free vegetarian dinner. Prominent politicians and Buddhist leaders attended other zones, like the Sirasa Vesak Zone, which hosted the Buddha’s Sacred Hair Relic for visitors to venerate.
Sri Lankan prison authorities also planned to release 1,400 prisoners serving time for minor offences in a gesture of pardon on 3 May. ColomboPage reported that the Department of Prisons took “measures to release the prisoners who were selected from prisons across the country to get a presidential pardon.”
On 4 May, President Sirisena visited Mahiyangana Raja Maha Viharaya in Badulla District to attend a state Vesak festival. There, he gave a speech on more specific ideas for Buddhist contributions to the creation of a virtuous society at the national and global levels. ColomboPage reported that he highlighted the need to support Dhamma schools in order to educate young people about Buddhism and the importance of taking measures to strengthen the country’s Pirivena system of monastic education.
ColomboPage also quoted the president as asserting that the government would “revive sacred places of Buddhist veneration” and that the Department of Archaeology had deployed additional resources for the purpose of excavating and preserving Buddhist heritage sites. The conservation and reconstruction of the Deegawapi Chaithya, for example, is commencing this year. An ancient Buddhist monument where the Buddha sat on his last visit to Sri Lanka, the Deegawapi Chaithya was constructed in 137 BCE during the reign of King Dutugemunu.