The government has not yet provided any official communication regarding the organisation of this year’s State Poson Festival, the Chief Incumbent of the Mihintale Raja Maha Viharaya, Ven. Walawahangunawawe Dhammarathana Thero, said on Sunday.
Speaking at a press briefing reported by Ada Derana, Dhammarathana Thero said no officials from the President’s Office, the Ministry of Buddhasasana or the Ministry of Public Administration had visited the temple to discuss arrangements related to the festival, and no written notice had been received from the District Secretariat on the conduct of the celebrations. “I do not know whether the President is aware of this. No officials have come to discuss the organization of the festival,” he said. He noted that Poson and Vesak, alongside Independence Day, are among the country’s main state events.
The Thero stressed that arrangements for the Mihindu Perahera and Poson celebrations at Mihintale — the historic site marking the arrival of Buddhism in Sri Lanka — would proceed as planned without interruption despite the absence of state coordination. He referred to reports that the government would provide Rs. 5 million for the event, describing it as a routine allocation typically channelled through the Divisional Secretariat, and said the allocated funds alone would not be sufficient to conduct the Mihindu Perahera.
Poson Poya falls on June 20, with the State Poson Festival traditionally drawing pilgrims to Mihintale and the surrounding Anuradhapura sacred sites. The festival is the second of the year’s two major Buddhist national observances, following Vesak Poya on May 31. State coordination has also been a recurring frame in religious policy this year, with the education ministry circulating Vesak-week observance guidelines to schools and the Colombo police rolling out a multi-division traffic plan for Vesak.
Source: No official notice on State Poson Festival yet, says Mihintale Chief Incumbent — Ada Derana, June 14.
