Buddhist Sri Lankans marked the festival of Vesak in low key celebrations on Sat...
COLOMBO - Buddhist Sri Lankans marked the festival of Vesak in low key celebrations on Saturday amid heightened religious tensions in the Indian Ocean nation following the deadly Easter Sunday attacks that killed more than 250 people.
Vesak, a festival that commemorates the birth, enlightenment and death of the Lord Buddha, is celebrated on a full moon day in May, with the festivities extending for at least a week. The festival comes a week after mob attacks on Muslim-owned homes, mosques and shops in the island nation’s northwest, in which one person was killed. Authorities said the rioters included Sinhala Buddhist extremists.
The number of Buddhist worshippers at the popular Keleni Raja Maha Viharaya temple on the outskirts of Colombo seemed to have halved from last year amid stepped-up security, a Reuters witness said.
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