Ministry of Buddha Sasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs

Ministry of Buddha Sasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs
බුද්ධශාසන, ආගමික හා සංස්කෘතික කටයුතු අමාත්‍යාංශය; புத்தசாசன, சமய மற்றும் கலாசார அலுவல்கள் அமைச்சு
Ministry overview
Jurisdiction	Government of Sri Lanka
Headquarters	135 Srimath Anagarika Dharmapala road, Colombo 7; 6°54′52″N 79°51′32″E / 6.914409°N 79.858778°E
Minister responsible	Hiniduma Sunil Senevi , Minister of Buddha Sasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs;
Ministry executive	Chandraprema Gamage, Ministry Secretary;
Website	mbs.gov.lk

The Ministry of Buddha Sasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs^[2] (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:^[3]

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

List of ministers

Parties

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

	Party	Took office	Left office
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	Mahinda Rajapaksa
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	Gotabaya Rajapaksa
Vidura Wickremanayake	Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna	22 July 2022	24 September 2024	Ranil Wickremesinghe
Vijitha Herath	National People's Power	24 September 2024	18 November 2024	Anura Kumara Dissanayake
Hiniduma Sunil Senevi	National People's Power	18 November 2024	Incumbent	Anura Kumara Dissanayake	^[4]

References

^ newsdmp-w (2024-11-18). "The New Prime Minister and Cabinet Officially Sworn In". PMD. Retrieved 2024-12-01.
^ "Extra Gazette No. 2281/41 of 27.05.2022 (Duties and Functions)" (PDF). documents.gov.lk. Retrieved 2022-06-10.
^ "About us". Mobs.gov.lk. Ministry of Buddhasasana. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
^ "Sri Lanka President appoints NPP cabinet minsters". EconomyNext. 2024-11-18. Retrieved 2024-12-01.

External links

Government of Sri Lanka

[1] wsdmp-w (2024-11-18). "The New Prime Minister and Cabinet Officially Sworn In". PMD. Retrieved 2024-12-01.

[2] "Extra Gazette No. 2281/41 of 27.05.2022 (Duties and Functions)" (PDF). documents.gov.lk. Retrieved 2022-06-10.

[3] "About us". Mobs.gov.lk. Ministry of Buddhasasana. Retrieved 3 September 2017.

[4] "Sri Lanka President appoints NPP cabinet minsters". EconomyNext. 2024-11-18. Retrieved 2024-12-01.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

v t e Ministries of Sri Lanka
Culture and education	Buddha Sasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs Education
Agriculture, exports, and resources	Agriculture Environment Fisheries Irrigation Plantation Industries Tourism and Lands Water Supply Wildlife and Forest Resources Conservation
Health, employment, and wellbeing	Health Labour and Foreign Employment Sports and Youth Affairs Women, Child Affairs and Social Empowerment
Law, finance, and politics	Finance, Economic Stabilization and National Policies Foreign Affairs Industries Justice, Prisons Affairs and Constitutional Reforms Mass Media Public Administration, Home Affairs, Provincial Councils and Local Government Public Security Trade, Commerce and Food Security
Development and forces	Defence Investment Promotion Ports, Shipping and Aviation Power and Energy Technology Transport and Highways Urban Development and Housing
Defunct	Civil Aviation Education Services External Affairs and Defence Highways, Ports & Shipping Indigenous Medicine Mass Media Muslim Religious Affairs Parliamentary Affairs
Government of Sri Lanka Cabinet

v t e Religion in Sri Lanka
Major	Buddhism
Minor	Hinduism Islam Christianity
Other	Irreligion Judaism
Related	Freedom of religion Sinhalese Buddhist nationalism Cabinet Ministries Ministry of Buddha Sasana Prison Reforms, Rehabilitation, Resettlement and Hindu Religious Affairs Muslim Religious Affairs Tourism Development and Christian Religious Affairs

Ministry of Buddha Sasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs

List of ministers

See also

References

External links