Sri Lanka Police have implemented a special security and traffic plan in and around the Anuradhapura sacred city ahead of the Poson festival, with over 3,000 police officers to be deployed for the religious season, NewsFirst reported.
The Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of the Anuradhapura District, N.L. Sugathapala, said the deployment will cover the sacred city and surrounding routes used by pilgrims travelling to the Atamasthana — the eight sacred sites traditionally venerated during Poson — and to Mihintale, where Arahat Mahinda is believed to have introduced Buddhism to the island.
Lifeguards will also be stationed near lakes and reservoirs to safeguard pilgrims and devotees during the festival period, Sugathapala said. Drownings spike around major Buddhist religious festivals in Sri Lanka, particularly at irrigation tanks and reservoirs visited by family groups; the Police Department’s Spokesperson Buddhika Manatunga has already warned that 122 people drowned across the country in 2026 ahead of the Poson season.
Poson Poya — which commemorates the arrival of Arahat Mahinda from India and the formal introduction of Buddhism to King Devanampiya Tissa at Mihintale in the third century BCE — falls on June 20 this year. The Anuradhapura sacred city attracts hundreds of thousands of pilgrims annually for the observance.
This week’s deployment plan is in addition to the 3,500-officer arrangement announced earlier this month by the Anuradhapura District Poson Committee, which had focused on dansal regulation and crowd management inside the Atamasthana. Authorities have also flagged the seasonal cyber-fraud threat around Vesak and Poson, with SLCERT reporting 360 online financial fraud complaints during the May–June festival window.
A separate Poson governance issue remains live: the Mihintale Raja Maha Vihara’s Chief Incumbent told reporters on Sunday that no official notice had yet been received from the President’s Office or the Ministry of Buddhasasana on a state-organised Poson festival, despite the festival being just days away.
