This year’s state Poson celebrations will be held at Mihintale Medamaluwa in Anuradhapura today and tomorrow with a limited number of participants under the theme Arogya Paramalaba “(Health is the Paramount Wealth)”.
As a part of the State Poson festival, the Mihinthala Aloka Pooja will also be conducted for the 58th consecutive year today and tomorrow (Poson Full Moon Poya Day) by the Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd (ANCL) in collaboration with the Ceylon Electricity Board under the guidance of Chief Incumbent of the Mihinthala Raja Maha Viharaya Ven. Walawahangunawewe Dhammaratana Thera. Dialog and National Lotteries Board are the co-sponsors of the event.
The Aloka Pooja will be held with the participation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa who is also the Minister of Buddhist Affairs. Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa will be the chief guest on the first day of the Mihintale Aloka Pooja, today while President Gotabaya Rajapaksa will inaugurate the Aloka Pooja on Poson Poya Day, June 5.
Poson Poya commemorates the day on which in 306 B.C.E, Buddhism was introduced by Arahath Mahinda triggering a widespread and profound revolution in Sri Lanka's cultural and religious life.
This year marks the 2,328-year anniversary of the arrival of Arahath Mahinda Thera to Sri Lanka.