Ministry of Buddha Sasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs explained

Agency Name:	Ministry of Buddha Sasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs
Type:	Ministry
Nativename:	Sinhala; Sinhalese: බුද්ධශාසන, ආගමික හා සංස්කෘතික කටයුතු අමාත්‍යාංශය Tamil: புத்தசாசன, சமய மற்றும் கலாசார அலுவல்கள் அமைச்சு
Seal:	Emblem of Sri Lanka.svg
Jurisdiction:	Government of Sri Lanka
Headquarters:	135 Srimath Anagarika Dharmapala road, Colombo 7
Coordinates:	6.9144°N 79.8588°W
Minister1 Name:	Hiniduma Sunil Senevi^[1]
Minister1 Pfo:	Minister of Buddha Sasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs
Chief1 Name:	Chandraprema Gamage
Chief1 Position:	Ministry Secretary

The Ministry of Buddha Sasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs^[2] (si|බුද්ධශාසන, ආගමික හා සංස්කෘතික කටයුතු අමාත්‍යාංශය; ta|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

Name		Portrait	Party	Took office	Left office	President
				12 December 2001	9 April 2004		Chandrika Kumaratunga
				25 November 2005	23 April 2010		Mahinda Rajapaksa
				23 April 2010	9 January 2015
	Karu Jayasuriya			12 January 2015	17 August 2015		Maithripala Sirisena
	Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe			4 September 2015	23 August 2017
	Gamini Jayawickrama Perera			25 August 2017	26 October 2018
	Udaya Gammanpila		Pivithuru Hela Urumaya	9 November 2018	15 December 2018
	Gamini Jayawickrama Perera			28 December 2018	21 November 2019
				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	18 November 2024		Anura Kumara Dissanayake
	Hiniduma Sunil Senevi			18 November 2024	Incumbent			^[4]

See also

• Buddhism in Sri Lanka
• Religion in Sri Lanka

External links

• Government of Sri Lanka

Notes and References

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