Ministry of Buddha Sasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs

The Ministry of Buddha Sasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs[1] (Sinhala: බුද්ධශාසන, ආගමික හා සංස්කෘතික කටයුතු අමාත්‍යාංශය; Tamil: புத்தசாசன, சமய மற்றும் கலாசார அலுவல்கள் அமைச்சு) is a cabinet ministry of the Government of Sri Lanka. It is responsible for oversight of the country's de facto state religion, Theravada Buddhism by:[2]

  • General oversight and maintenance of the welfare of the nation's Buddhist clergy and places of worship
  • Oversight of Buddhist education in the country, including provision of information technology to temples
  • The development of temples as community centres with multiple services outside of matters spiritual
  • Maintenance of selected places of Buddhist worship as tourist sites, and maintenance of sites of Buddhist pilgrimage
  • The propagation of Buddhism and Buddhist philosophy
  • Maintaining the nature of the Buddhist state via necessary legislation
Ministry of Buddha Sasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs
බුද්ධශාසන, ආගමික හා සංස්කෘතික කටයුතු අමාත්‍යාංශය
புத்தசாசன, சமய மற்றும் கலாசார அலுவல்கள் அமைச்சு
Ministry overview
JurisdictionGovernment of Sri Lanka
Headquarters135 Srimath Anagarika Dharmapala road, Colombo 7
6°54′52″N 79°51′32″E / 6.914409°N 79.858778°E / 6.914409; 79.858778
Minister responsible
  • Hon. Vijitha Herath, Minister of Buddha Sasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs
Ministry executive
  • Chandraprema Gamage, Ministry Secretary
Websitembs.gov.lk

List of ministers

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Parties

  Sri Lanka Freedom Party   United National Party   Pivithuru Hela Urumaya   Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna   National People's Power

Name Portrait Party Took office Left office President
W. J. M. Lokubandara
 
United National Party 12 December 2001 9 April 2004 Chandrika Kumaratunga
Mahinda Rajapaksa
 
Sri Lanka Freedom Party 25 November 2005 23 April 2010

Mahinda Rajapaksa

D. M. Jayaratne
 
Sri Lanka Freedom Party 23 April 2010 9 January 2015
Karu Jayasuriya
 
United National Party 12 January 2015 17 August 2015 Maithripala Sirisena
Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe
 
United National Party 4 September 2015 23 August 2017
Gamini Jayawickrama Perera United National Party 25 August 2017 26 October 2018
Udaya Gammanpila
 
Pivithuru Hela Urumaya 9 November 2018 15 December 2018
Gamini Jayawickrama Perera United National Party 28 December 2018 21 November 2019
Mahinda Rajapaksa
 
Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna 22 November 2019 9 May 2022

Gotabaya Rajapaksa

Vidura Wickremanayake Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna 20 May 2022 14 July 2022
22 July 2022 24 September 2024 Ranil Wickremesinghe
Vijitha Herath National People's Power 24 September 2024 Incumbent Anura Kumara Dissanayake

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Extra Gazette No. 2281/41 of 27.05.2022 (Duties and Functions)" (PDF). documents.gov.lk. Retrieved 2022-06-10.
  2. ^ "About us". Mobs.gov.lk. Ministry of Buddhasasana. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
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