Sri Lanka declares a ‘Day of National Mourning’ for Buddhist clergyman

The Sri Lankan government has declared September 3rd as a national day of mourning to commemorate the life of the Chief Prelate of the Sri Lanka Ramannya Nikaya, Weweldeniye Medhalankara Thero.

Ramannya Nikaya, who passed away at the age of 103, was a long standing upholder of the Buddhist order and spent most of his life disseminating the Sri Lankan Theravadic monastic tradition.

Nikaya was also an avid supporter of the discriminatory and power enhancing Buddhist temporalities act of 1931.

The government has also declared that a funeral will take place with full state honours for the late Nikaya on the 3rd September.

See here for the government’s reaction to  student attempts to mourn their loved ones that died in the 2009 Mullivaikal massacre.

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