COLOMBO: The Pakistan government has announced it will send sacred Buddhist relics to Sri Lanka on the occasion of Vesak.
The relics exhibited at the Takshila Museum in Pakistan will be used for a public veneration during the festival and will be kept at the ‘Temple Trees’ at Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s residence from April 29 to May 3.
Vesak will be celebrated on April 29 in Sri Lanka and it is celebrated by Buddhist communities around the world to mark the birth, enlightenment and death of the Buddha.
The Indian High Commission in Colombo had also announced its government would send sacred relics to Sri Lanka. These relics are being brought from Sarnath in Varanasi and it is going to be a first time that these relics will be kept for public exposition.
Sarnath has its own significance in Buddhism as it is the place where Buddha preached his first sermon. The public can pay homage to the relics at Temple Trees.
It is reported that the sacred artifacts from Nepal and Bhutan are also to be exhibited at the Buddha Rashmi Vesak Zone, which has been organized by the Gangaramaya Vihara in Hunupitiya and the Prime Minister’s office.
According to a statement from the Prime Minister’s office, the ‘Dipankara’ Buddha Statue brought from Bhutan, the Shakya Muni Statue brought from Nepal and the Maithri Bodhi Sathwa Statue would be on display at the Vesak Zone.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka has banned the sale of meat and liquor and ordered casinos to close on the Buddha’s birthday.
The restrictions, which come just days after the government shifted May Day celebrations, will extend to tourist hotels for the two-day Vesak festival starting Sunday.
“Meat and liquor sales at supermarkets and hotels will be banned during this period,” the government said in a statement.
Casinos will be closed and gambling elsewhere also prohibited, the government said.
The ban follows the government’s decision this month to delay May Day festivities by a week after Buddhist leaders complained the date clashed with Vesak celebrations. It is the first time the holiday has been shifted from May 1 since Sri Lanka began celebrating the International Workers’ Day, popularly known as May Day, in 1956.
