Selected religious holidays to be national holidays

" It is widely believed that the Great Buddha Colossus that is being carved out at Rambodagala will bring peace and prosperity to Sri Lanka and to the whole World. It will be so only if we live up to the Buddhist principles and treat all the people of Sri Lanka as brothers and sisters and also as equals with no one superior or inferior to one another. Buddhism will spread on its own and no one need thrust it on anybody. "

by V. Anandasangaree

(May 15, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) While the Buddhists all over the world are preparing to celebrate the Vesak on the 17th May, the Sri Lankan Buddhists are making elaborate arrangements to celebrate the Sambuddhatva Jeyanthy, the 2600th anniversary of Lord Buddha’s supreme enlightenment. The 2500th year of enlightenment was celebrated as Buddha Jeyanthy year to cover a period of one year, starting with the Vesak of May 1956. I very well remember how on each Poya Day the head of one of the Asian Countries who arrived at the Ratmalana Airport to take part in the celebration was taken in precession along the Galle Road, where students lined up, waving the National Flag of Sri Lanka and that of the gest country. It was during the Buddha Jeyanthy Year that Foreign Dignitaries like Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Chu en Lai the Prime Minister of China, King Mahendra of Nepal, Burma’s U Nu and such others mainly from Buddhist Countries.

It is widely believed that the Great Buddha Colossus that is being carved out at Rambodagala will bring peace and prosperity to Sri Lanka and to the whole World. It will be so only if we live up to the Buddhist principles and treat all the people of Sri Lanka as brothers and sisters and also as equals with no one superior or inferior to one another. Buddhism will spread on its own and no one need thrust it on anybody.

I have a long cherished ambition which I like to share with likeminded people. This is the best time for the Government to consult respectable leaders of all Religions to recommend one festival related to their religion and declare these days, as National Holidays which the whole Country can celebrate as common to all. Vesak could be one. The New Year, Hindu and Sinhala New Year can be left out for those belonging to those religions to celebrate themselves.