Abstract:
The relationship between the state of Sri Lanka and the Buddhism was established on the day
when the Arahath Mahinda Thero introduced Buddhism to Sri Lankan society. After that
Buddhist monk became a prominent figure in Sri Lankan society. This situation prevailed from
the Anuradhapura kingdom to Kandyan kingdom. When Sri Lanka became a colony of British,
Buddhist monk had given his guidance for the rebels conducted by local people. The
Vidyalankara Decleration (Vidyalankara Prakashaya) which was declared in 1946 gave a
disciplinary permission for Buddhist monks which encouraged them to engage in political
activities without any fear. That situation paved the way to Buddhist monk for emerge as a
prominent figure in 2004 parliamentary election as election candidates and won nine seats in
parliament.
This study is mainly focused on the way of Buddhist monk's image has used by the political
movements of Sri Lanka during the time frame of 1947 to 2015. The collection of data for this
study was mainly done through the methods of textual analysis and interviews.
The data which was collected according to the above methods clearly suggest that the Buddhist
monk had captured a prominent place in Sri Lankan history of politics. As well as the image of
Buddhist monk had used by the various types of political movements in various aspects in order
to grab the public opinion towards their victory.
