Sri Lanka, March 23 -- According to Buddhist texts, the Buddha made one prediction from his death bed at Kusinara (present day Kushinagar in India) - that His Dhamma would be protected for all eternity in the neighbouring island of Sri Lanka. This has come true, with Buddhism taking root in Sri Lanka from the very day that Arahat Mahinda introduced it to King Devanampiyatissa and his retinue.

Sri Lanka has become the epicentre of Theravada Buddhism, with a flourishing civilization and culture based on Buddhist philosophy. Thus other Buddhist-majority countries look up to Sri Lanka for leadership in matters concerning Buddhism. It is in this context that we should laud President Maithripala Sirisena's initiative of seeking UNESCO Memory o...