14th United Nations International Vesak Festival.
14th UN International Vesak Festival to be held in Sri Lanka. This year’s theme of the UN International Vesak Festival is "Buddhist Teachings for Social Justice and Sustainable World Peace". The festival will be held from May 12th to 14th.
This United Nations Day of Vesak is celebrated annually in Buddhist countries. This is the first time Sri Lanka has been given the opportunity to host this festival.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be renewing his links with Buddhism when he visits Sri Lanka as one of the chief guests at the United Nations Vesak Festival. Vesak is the most important day in the Buddhist calendar, marks commemoration of Lord Buddha’s birth, enlightenment and passing away.
Minister of Justice and Buddha Sasana, Wijayadasa Rajapakshe, said that several heads of government and state have been invited for the landmark event recognized by the UN, and that Modi has confirmed his participation. Modi has a strong bond with Buddhism and had made Gujarat a part of the Buddhist pilgrimage trail in India when he was Chief Minister of that state.
Vesak was declared as an Internationally recognized day by the UN following efforts by the Foreign Minister at the time Lakshman Kadiragamar in 1999.
According to a statement issued by the ministry, the inauguration of the 14th UN Vesak day will take place at the BMICH with President Maithripala Sirisena, Indian President Narendra Modi and a host of other national and international delegates participating. Over 2000 delegates including Buddhist and political leaders from several countries will attend the event.
On May 11 at 7 pm the festival will be launched at the special Vesak zone at Diyawanna near the Parliament complex.
The concluding ceremony will take place at the Sri Dalada Maligawa premises in Kandy. Minister Rajapakshe on behalf of President Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe made an official request from the UN Vesak Committee at the last UN Vesak day held in Thailand for the hosting of the festival in Sri Lanka in 2017.
Previous UN Vesak Day celebrations
The 1st International Buddhist Conference on the United Nations Day of Vesak was on May 25, 2004 in Thailand.
The 2nd UN day of Vesak was held on May 18th to 21st, 2005 at Sanamluang, Buddhamothon and United Nations Centre for the Pacific.
The 3rd UN day of Vesak celebration was held on May 7th - 10th, 2006, at the United Nations for Asia Pacific Hall and Buddhamonthon in Bangkok, Thailand.
The 4th UN day of Vesak was held on May 26th to 29th, 2007. It was solemnly held at the United Nations Hall for Asia Pacific and Buddhamonthon in Bangkok with the participants from 61 countries and regions.
The 4th United Nations Day of Vesak (UNDV) was held in Hanoi, Vietnam from May 13-17th in 2008. This was the first ever biggest International Buddhist conference that was held in Vietnam.
The 5th celebrations drew a gathering of 4,500-including Buddhist leaders from all traditions, leading scholars, state dignitaries and practitioners from all around the world, and in Vietnam.
The 6th UN day of Vesak was held on May 18th to 19th, 2009 in Bangkok and at the Phutthamonthon in Nakhon Pathom.
The 7th UN day of Vesak was held on May 23th – 25th, 2010, at the Conference Hall of the Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University, Main Campus, Wang Noi, Ayutthaya and United Nations Conference Centre, Bangkok, Thailand .
The 8th UN day of Vesak was held on May 12th – 14th, 2011, at the Conference Hall Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University, Main Campus, Wang Noi, Ayutthaya and United Nations Conference Centre, Bangkok, Thailand.
The 9th UN day of Vesak was held on May 31st to June 2nd, 2012, at the Conference Hall Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University, Main Campus, Wang Noi, Ayutthaya and United Nations Conference Centre, Bangkok, Thailand.
The 10th UN day of Vesak was held on May 21th - 22th, 2013. at the United Nations Conference Centre, Bangkok, Thailand.
The 11th UN day of Vesak was held on May 7th to 11th, 2014. At Cat Bai Dinh temple, Ninh Binh, Vietnam.
The 12th UN day of Vesak was held on May 28th - 30th, 2015 at Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University (MCU), Wang Noi, Ayutthaya and United Nations Convention Centre Bangkok, Thailand.
The 13th UN day of Vesak was held on May 22nd to 23rd, 2016 at the Conference Hall Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University, Main Campus, Wang Noi, Ayutthaya and United Nations Conference Centre, Bangkok, Thailand.
The 14th UN day of Vesak will be held on May 12th to 14th, 2017 in Colombo and Kandy at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall, the Nelum Pokuna, Diyatha Uyana and the Sri Dalada Maligava in Kandy.
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