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Upcoming Vesak: Buddha Sasana Ministry to consult Mahanayakes on pandals and dansal
The upcoming Vesak celebrations, a security nightmare after the Easter Sunday terrorist massacre, have set a poser for the Government.
The decision has been placed in the hands of the Buddha Sasana Ministry. It will consult the Mahanayake Theras on how to evolve arrangements, Buddha Sasana Minister Gamini Jayawickrama Perera said yesterday.
He told the Sunday Times that the ministry’s Advisory Council will on Tuesday discuss matters relating to the checking of clergy and lay people, deploying security personnel and restricting the celebrations to religious observances.
He said they had already advised the chief priests of temples and viharas to appoint Dayaka Sabha members to form a civil defence committee at village levels.
“We have plans to use military personnel and Dayaka Sabha members to check people who enter temples while Buddhist monks would be requested to check the clergy,” the minister said.
The ministry would also submit an advisory, requesting devotees to avoid bringing bags to temple premises, he said. The minister said meals and drinking water must be provided at temple premises for those observing sil. The ministry would issue a circular, announcing the decisions taken at Tuesday’s Advisory Council meeting.
The minister said that President Maithripala Sirisena, at a National Security Council meeting, had directed police and armed forces chiefs intensify security measures at Buddhist temples.
Mr. Jayawickrema Perera also advised the people to avoid erecting pandals, setting up vesak zones and dansal, as the extremist groups might target such places. He said even the mahanayakes and other monks had requested that Vesak be marked with religious observances in temple premises. If people wished to erect pandals and dansal, they should discuss the matter with the area police.
“I cannot take the responsibility if the terror group strikes a gathering near a pandal, danasala or in a Vesak zones. Even the Mahanayakes’ advice is not to have such activities. They wanted people to participate in religious activities in temples,” he said.