Page 21 - Wesak as a Public Holiday and Its Social Psychological Significance

Wesak as a Public Holiday and Its Social Psychological Significance

The Dutch abolished Wesak as a
public holiday in 1770. The British
refused to reinstate Wesak as a public
holiday after taking over from the Dutch.
The Sri Lankans tried many years to get
Wesak declared as a public holiday but
failed (meanwhile Christmas and All
Saints Day were made public holidays in
Sri Lanka). After the arrival of Col. Olcott
he was tasked with the job of getting
Wesak as a public holiday. In 1884, he
was entrusted by all sects of Buddhism in
Sri Lanka to champion Wesak as a public
holiday on their behalf. He travelled to
London to lobby the British. The British
th
eventually agreed. On 28 May 1885, Sri
Lanka celebrated Wesak as a public Fig. 11: Buddhist Flag
holiday. On that day, a Buddhist flag
(Fig.11) designed by a committee with
Olcott as advisor, was first flown.

Later, at the World Fellowship of Penang, he called for Wesak Day to be
Buddhists Conference held in Kandy in made a public holiday too. Similarly, in
1950, this flag was accepted as a 1 9 4 7 t h e S i n g a p o r e B u d d h i s t
worldwide Buddhist flag. But prior to Association - a Sri Lankan Buddhist
1950, Sri Lanka temples in Malaya and temple, made a call to the British
Singapore were already flying this government to declare Wesak Day a
Buddhist flag. This is evidence of the public holiday. Hence it is evident that Sri
strong Sri Lanka influence on Buddhism Lankans placed great emphasis on
in Malaya and Singapore. getting Wesak as a public holiday and
played a leading role in this matter.
To Sri Lankans, declaring Wesak
a p u b l i c h o l i d a y w a s a g r e a t We should also know that around 120
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breakthrough and a big success. Hence, years ago, all Theravada temples would
wherever Sri Lankan monks go, they celebrate Wesak on a grand scale, and
would call for Wesak Day to be made a devotees' houses and shops gaily decorated,
public holiday. So it was quite natural that and most Buddhist shops closed for business
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when Ven. K. Gunaratana arrived in on that day . Acording to a report in the “

13. The Mahindarama Temple in Penang was established in 1918, Brickfields Buddhist Temple was established
in 1894, Bodhi Lanka Ram Vihara in Taiping was established in 1889. The Siamese temple Wat
Chaiyamangalaram was built in 1845. The Burmese temple Dhammikarama was started in 1803.

14. The Singhalese in Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Malacca would decorate their houses and close their shops for
business on Wesak day, very much like Chinese celebrating their Chinese New Year.

Chapter 2: The Sri Lankan Connection Page20