Important week for most communities

Sri Lanka is a multi-religious country as we all know and this is an important week for most of these religions. It is important for the Buddhist, Christian/Catholic and Islam people in this island as well as all over the world as the Medin Poya, Good Friday and Holy Prophet’s Birthday all fall within the week. It’s also quite interesting as the Poya and Good Friday happen to fall on the same day (Friday) with the Prophet’s Birthday taking place the previous day (Thursday).

Medin is the last Full Moon Poya Day of the Sinhala year, which begins in April. It celebrates the Buddha’s first visit to His parental home after Enlightenment. On this occasion, He preached to His father, King Suddhodana and relatives, showing them the path to Enlightenment and final deliverance. It was also during this visit that the Buddha ordained his son, Prince Rahula and half-brother, Prince Nanda. This year’s Medin Poya falls on March 21.

Good Friday, which will be observed on the same day, is a day of grief and sorrow for Christians and Catholics all over the world.

It was on a similar day that Jesus was nailed to the cross, where he eventually died. Jesus, who died on Good Friday, is believed to have risen from the dead, three days later, on Easter Sunday.

Milad-Un-Nabi or Holy Prophet’s Birthday will be commemorated by Muslims all over the world on March 20. Prophet Mohammed (Muhammad), who is the central figure and founding prophet of the Muslim faith, is said to have been born 15 centuries ago, in c570 in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

Muslims believe that the angel Gabriel appeared to Muhammad when he was 40 years old and told him that he was to be the messenger of god. Thereafter, he spent his life winning converts and uniting Arabia behind his faith which came to be known as Islam. The Prophet’s teachings came to be written down in the holy book known as the Koran (Quaran).