Poson Day in Sri Lanka

18th June,
Today is Poson day(နယုန္လျပည္႕ ရဟႏၱာအရွင္မဟိႏၵ ႀကြတဲ႕ေန႕) in Sri Lanka. Poson Festivals are celebrated in so many places especially Anuradhapura and Mihintale of Sri Lanka. We, MSMA, express to our Daka/Dakmas about Poson festival, brief history and today Prisident’s message as following;

Poson Festival

Sri Lanka - Colombo - Negombo - Dambulla - Kandy Buddhism and Sri Lanka has a close relation for centuries. It is quite a task to exactly pinpoint the time and date when the Buddhism started flourishing in the island but it is generally thought that Emperor Ashoka had sent his son Crown Prince Mahendra and his daughter Sanghamitra to the island for the introduction of Buddhism there. Poson Festival in Sri Lanka celebrates the introduction of Buddhism in the island. In this island country, Buddhism belongs to the Theravada tradition. Most of the Sinhalese people (around seventy one percent) are followers of Buddhism. And though now the number of regular practitioners of this religion has dwindled, in Sri Lanka is the country Buddhism is still flourishing strongly. Theravada has been the major religion in the island since soon after its introduction by Prince Mahindra during the reign of Sri Lanka's King Devanampiyatissa. During his reign, a bodhi tree sapling was brought Sri Lanka and came to be known as Sri Maha Bodhi.

Poson Festival has the erection of pandals, almsgiving to pilgrims and religious observances as part of the rituals of this festival. The festivities are mostly centered in the sacred monastic complex of Mihintale. Buddhist people in Sri Lanka believe that Sri Lanka observes the purest form of Buddhism in the world today.

Some believe that the Sri Lankan God Saman, has been appointed as the protector of Buddhism in the island by none other Lord Buddha himself. On Poson Festival day the main centers of celebration are Anuradhapura and Mihintale. Several processions are held in many parts of the country to mark the visit of Arahat Mahinda Thera (Prince Mahindra) who introduced Buddhism to the pearl island. All men, young and old take part in the solemn festivities that are carried on for the day. Since religion is the central point of this festival, there should be no element of surprise in the fact that it the Lord himself and his teachings that are remembered with reverence.

Brief history of Poson

We are on a festival season now. It is called Poson festival. This is very important to Sri Lankan Buddhists.
This is the Poson history. King Thissa of Sri Lanka and King Ashoka of India are good friends. So king Ashoka’s son is an arahat. His name is Arahat Mahinda. King Ashoka sent his son to Sri Lanka to propagate Buddhism in Sri Lankan people. So Arahat Mahinda came to Sri Lanka with six monks and one devotee. When they came here King Thissa was hunting deer. Arahat Mahinda and his group came to the Mihintale rock and Arahat Mahinda called to king Thissa. When arahat Mahinda called to King Thissa he watched his nearby. At last he saw Arahat Mahinda on Mihintale rock. Then Arahat Mahinda asked some questions from King Thissa to know his intelligence. Then Arahat Mahinda had understood King Thissa is a very intelligent person. Then Arahat Mahinda preached Buddhism to King Thissa and his group and they were people who ascertained the Buddhism. After this all Sri Lankan people had the Buddhism. That is the story of Poson.

Especially Poson is in Mihintale and Anuradhapura. In Poson season Anuradhapura and Mihintale are full of people.
In Poson season we do religious activities. Those are, observe precepts and worship Mihintale, watching pandols, doing arms centers and more things. Sri Lankans are celebrating this festival in very holiness.

Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s Poson message:

Sri Lanka people commemorate the beginning of a new society Wednesday, June 18, 2008, 5:59 GMT, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
June 18, Colombo: Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa in his Poson day message said that Sri Lankan people commemorate today the beginnings of a new society and culture with the advent of Buddhism in the county as preached by the Arahat Mahinda, who arrived here in the 236th year after the parinibbana of the Buddha.
The full message as follows:
Sri Lanka achieved excellence among nations by following the new Buddhist path as shown by the Arahat, which saw close links between the state and the Buddhist Order, with safeguarding the Sasana being considered the prime duty of the state. Today, this tradition is honoured in our Constitution. Accordingly, my government has taken many measures to safeguard and nurture the Buddha Sasana in keeping with the counsel of the Maha Sangha.

As Buddhism shows the means to end suffering, protection of the Buddha Sasana benefits all living beings and shows the way to coexistence. Recognizing the importance of a religious environment in society, I believe that the best service to human society is making collective efforts at social welfare that eschews all divisions. Moved by this belief my government has initiated several projects to prevent social degradation and build a society imbued with religious fervour, offering comfort to all.
Among these are the measures taken for a religious and social renaissance in the country to mark the 2600th Sambuddha Jayanthi anniversary in the year 2011. Our objective here is to bequeath to future generations a principled society where the observance of the Five Noble Precepts will have the understanding of all.
On this Poson Full Moon Day I appeal to all Sri Lankan people to come forward to celebrate the 2600th Sambuddha Jayanthi, and help bring about a further social transformation in keeping with the teachings brought to us by the Arahat Mahinda on the first Poson Day.