High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to India, Mahishini Colonne, visited Lucknow on 26-27 September 2026 at the invitation of the Lord Buddha Welfare Foundation Bharat (LBWFB), engaging with scholars, students, artists and cultural institutions.
At the International Buddhist Research Institute (Antarashtriya Bauddh Shodh Sansthan), established by the Government of Uttar Pradesh in 1985, the High Commissioner visited the Pali Education Centre and library and interacted with faculty and students, including Ven. (Dr.) Julampitiye Punyasara Thero, a Sri Lankan Buddhist monk who teaches Pali at the Centre. Discussions focused on the importance of Pali and Sri Lanka’s historic role in preserving and transmitting the Buddhist textual tradition.
At the State Lalit Kala Academy, she inaugurated the Soul of Art International Art Exhibition and interacted with participating artists. She also visited the State Museum, Lucknow, viewing its valuable collection of Gandhara art and meeting Dr. Meenakshi Khemka, and she also visited the newly established Lucknow Museum of Heritage and Art, which presents the rich cultural heritage of Awadh.
The visit also included the pre-launch of the Dhamma Sthali Coffee Table Book, an initiative of the Lord Bhuddha Welfare Foundation Bharat relating to a new Buddhist cultural and spiritual centre being developed near ancient Shravasti in Balrampur. The High Commissioner highlighted its potential to contribute to Buddhist pilgrimage, scholarship and cultural exchange, complementing the wider Buddhist Circuit of Uttar Pradesh.
Reflecting on the special place Uttar Pradesh and neighbouring Bihar hold for Sri Lankan Buddhists, the High Commissioner noted that generations of Sri Lankan Buddhists grow up hearing stories of Bodh Gaya, Sarnath, Shravasti and Kushinagar and other places associated with the life of the Buddha. She said that these are places they know long before they visit them, not merely as pilgrimage destinations, but as part of their religious and cultural inheritance.
The visit brought together Buddhist heritage, Pali scholarship, art and living cultural traditions, highlighting the depth of the connections between Sri Lanka and Uttar Pradesh and the scope for further academic, cultural and people-to-people exchanges.
High Commission of Sri Lanka
New Delhi
06 October 2026