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Poson Poya Festival
The Poson Poya Festival is one of the most important festivals for Sri Lankan Buddhists, because it recalls how Buddhism came to Sri Lanka.
 Arath Mahinda, the son of the Indian emperor Ashoka, founded Buddhism in Sri Lanka. |  After Arath Mahinda had completed his teachings of the Buddhist Council, he traveled with a group of seven monks and lay people to the island of Sri Lanka. |  On a full moon night, they managed to enter the island. |
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 The group met the King Devanampiya Tissa, who was on a hunt. Mahinda, who was on the mountain with his group, stopped the king. |  After another two lectures by Mahinda in the royal city, he was able to lay the foundation for the spread of Buddhism in Sri Lanka. |  Today Mahinda is revered not only as the founder of Buddhism in Sri Lanka, he is also considered a creator of Sinhala literature, because he translated the Tipitaka into Sinhala and wrote comments on it in the local language. |
 The group was invited to the residence in Anuradhapura. There Mahinda held his discourses. |
© 2013 by SriLankan Buddhist Cultural Society e.V. .
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