HOLIDAYS, FESTIVALS AND SPECIAL DAYS ON THE BUDDHIST CALENDAR

BUDDHIST SPECIAL DAYS

Poi Sang Festival in Mae Hong Son, Thailand celebrates the ordination of novice monks

There are a great many special days on the Buddhist calendar. Some of these days celebrate significant days in the life of The Buddha or the birthdays of the bodhisattvas. Others mark significant events for monks. Buddhists also have many local holidays that vary from country to country. Often they are often in sync with the phases of the moon, and therefore, they vary from year to year.

In Buddhism, there is no equivalent of a Sabbath — a special day of the week for acting particularly religious. Followers visit temples whenever the feel like it, particularly when they want to pray for something in particular, during festivals and holidays or on auspicious days defined by the lunar calendar (notably on full, new and quarter moons, which occur roughly every seven days). Veneration of images and the practice of dana (generosity) can be done on their own or as part of rituals in connection with Buddhist celebrations.

The most important holy days for Buddhists are New Year's, Wesak, Dharma Day, Kathina Day, and Sangha Day. The dates of these festivals can vary not only between Theravada and Mahayana branches, but also from sect to sect and from country to country. Moreover, since Buddhists (except those in Japan) use the lunar calendar, the schedule of such holy days can be confusing for Westerners. [Source: Encyclopedia.com]

Typically on a festival day laypeople go to their local temple or monastery and offer food to the monks, vow to uphold the five ethical precepts (pancha sila), and listen to the dharma. They also may distribute food to the poor and make offerings of food, robes, and money to the monks. On particularly important holidays or festival days, Buddhists often eat special foods. In many places Buddhist laypeople eat a special milk and rice mixture to symbolically re-create Sujata's simple gift of rice gruel to the Buddha, which gave him strength to achieve enlightenment.

Websites and Resources on Buddhism: Buddha Net buddhanet.net/e-learning/basic-guide ; Internet Sacred Texts Archive sacred-texts.com/bud/index ; Introduction to Buddhism webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/buddhaintro ; Early Buddhist texts, translations, and parallels, SuttaCentral suttacentral.net ; East Asian Buddhist Studies: A Reference Guide, UCLA web.archive.org ; View on Buddhism viewonbuddhism.org ; Tricycle: The Buddhist Review tricycle.org ; BBC - Religion: Buddhism bbc.co.uk/religion

Buddhist Calendar

The Buddhist Calendar began on the day of the death and Nirvana of Buddha in 544 B.C. The year 2017 was the Buddhist year 2560. The year 2024 was the Buddhist year 2567. The Theravada Buddhist calendar is a basic luni-solar calendar, much like the traditional Chinese calendars. Using its own names for months, holidays, and even cycles of years, it consists of 12 months which alternate between 29 and 30 days. As is true with the Muslim lunar calendar each year lose 11 days in relation to the the Gregorian calendar and the sun's cycle of equinoxes and solstices. To help keep the calendar in sync with the sun, the Buddhist calendar inserts a leap month of 30 days every third year.

Thai Buddlist lunar-solar calendar for August 2004

Each month on the Buddhist Calendar is divided into two two-week periods. The first (light) period strats the day after the New Moon of the previous month and ends with the Full Moon. The second (dark ) period begins the day after the Full Moon and ends with the New Moon day, which is the last day of the lunar month. The eighth day of each two-week period coincides with the First Quarter and Last Quarter moons, respectively. [Source: astraltraveler.com]

These four important moon days — new moon, first quarter moon, full moon and last quarter moon — are known as Uposatha days. In Theravada Buddhist areas these days are observed with enhanced attention to the Dharma (Buddhist teachings). Lay devotees often visit temples or monasteries, make sure they observe the Eight Precepts, and spend time meditating or listening to, discussing or reading about the Dharma. The observation of Uposatha days predates Buddhism. In ancient India, the four main days of the lunar cycle were reserved for special religious practices.

Uposatha (Poya) — Buddhist Lunar Days

Many important holidays are celebrated during the full moon. In Myanmar, Full Moon Days on the traditional lunar calendar are celebrated every month. Many major Buddhist holidays are linked to these full moon days.

Uposatha (or Poya) Days are four monthly holy days — when there is a new moon, a full moon, and quarter moons — that are observed in Theravada countries. On these days Theravada Buddhists renew their commitment to their faith. These days come on the first, eighth, fifteenth, and twenty-third days of the lunar month, which are determined by the phases of the moon and not by the movement of the sun as in the Western calendar. [Source: Jacob Kinnard, Worldmark Encyclopedia of Religious Practices, 2018, Encyclopedia.com]

On these days lay Buddhists, those who are not nuns or monks, will visit the temple or the local monastery. They listen to monks reading from a Pali sutra or delivering a sermon or lesson, and they make offerings of food and clothing to the monks and nuns. They will also meditate on the Five Precepts. [Source: Encyclopedia.com]

New Year in Buddhist Countries

The Buddhist year begins with the New Year's festival, symbolizing the death and rebirth of the year. New Year in Buddhist countries in Southeast Asia is celebrated in early April with water throwing festivals, which mark the start of the monsoon season and have little to do with Buddhism.

In Thailand, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, and Laos, the Buddhist New Year is celebrated for three days from the first full-moon day in April. In predominantly Mahayana countries (China, Japan, Korea, and Tibet), the New Year typically starts on the first full-moon day in January or February, although this varies from country to country. In Japan it begins on January 1st. In China and Korea it is generally in February and is known as Lunar New Year or Chinese New Year. Tibetan Buddhists generally celebrate it a a week or few weeks later. Again these holidays have little to do with Buddhism.

To prepare for the New Year, Buddhists clean their houses very thoroughly and perform cleansing rituals with water to drive out evil spirits. As with all the holy days of Buddhism, the three days of the New Year's celebration include visits to the temple to bring offerings of incense, cloth, flowers, and money for the monks. There are also processions through the streets carrying images of the Buddha, as well as feasting, dancing, and sports events. [Source: Encyclopedia.com]

Losar — Tibetan New Year

monk dancing during Losar

Losar is Tibetan New Year. It is set according to the Tibetan calendar, and is usually around the same time or a couple weeks later than the Chinese New Year. The most important day on the Tibetan calendar, it is celebrated by Tibetans, Mongolians and Tibetan-related people with people tying prayer flags, cooking flour and butter on fires of smoldering evergreens, lighting lamps, making offerings, praying at shrines and monasteries, feasting on special dumplings, socializing, lighting purifying fires with fragrant smoke from juniper, artemisia and other herbs, gambling and drinking large quantities of chang. Celebrations often feature horse racing, lama dancing and offerings to Gods.

Usually celebrated in mid or late February, Losar begins on the day of a new moon that marks the first day of the first month on the Tibetan calendar. It is called Gyalpo Losar in Tibetan which means “King's New Year”. People dress up in their best clothes, greet each other and go to the monasteries to receive blessings. The period of time differs from 5 to 7 days.

From the beginning of the 12th month of the Tibetan calendar, Tibetans begin to prepare special delicacies for the Tibetan New Year. Drosu chemar, meaning “cereals container”, is a must for Tibetan New Year. In this container foods such as tsampa with the yak butter and roasted wheat seeds are placed. Tibetans dress in their best and cleanest clothes. Festivities last from the 1st day of the new year until the 15th day. The establishment of the Tibetan New Year has close connections with the use of the Tibetan calendar. [Source: Chloe Xin, Tibetravel.org tibettravel.org]

The first month of Tibetan Calendar is filled with festivals. Celebrations take place almost every day. Losar is the most important one. Depending on a number of factors, Losar can fall as early as mid-January and as late as late March. Some years entire months are deleted from the Tibetan Year due to inauspicious alignments of planets and other factors.

Mahayana Special Days

Avalokiteshvara's birthday is a festival that celebrates the bodhisattva ideal represented by Avalokiteshvara (Kuan Yin), who represents the perfection of compassion in the Mahayana traditions of Tibet and China. The festival occurs on the first full-moon day in March. [Source: Jacob Kinnard, Worldmark Encyclopedia of Religious Practices, 2018, Encyclopedia.com]

Ulambana (Ancestor Day) is celebrated throughout the Mahayana tradition from the first to the 15th days of the eighth lunar month, which is generally in the summer. It is believed that the gates of hell are opened on the first day, and the ghosts may visit the world for 15 days. Food offerings are made during this time to relieve the sufferings of these ghosts. On the 15th day (Ulambana), people visit cemeteries to make offerings to the departed ancestors. Many Theravadins from Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand also observe this festival.

Ancestor Day is called “Bon” or “Obon” (Festival of the Dead). Hled in mid August, itt is when the souls of the dead are believed to return to their homes. Many people visit the graves of the ancestors and set up lanterns to guide the spirits of ancestral souls to and from their homes. Many Japanese seem to feel that more people die in August than any other time of the year. Sometimes there are tie-ins with events that remember the dead from the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the ed of World War II which also occurred in August.

See Parinirvana Below

Holidays Linked To Buddha

Vesak (Buddha's Birthday) in Korea

Nirvana Day, in mid-February, commemorate the death of The Buddha. Wesak, Buddha's Birthday, in April or May, according to some traditions celebrates the birth, enlightenment and death of the Buddha. Bodhi Day, in early December, celebrates the Buddha's Enlightenment in 596 B.C.

Dharma Day celebrates the beginning of the Buddha's teachings — "The Turning of the Wheel of the Dharma," at the Deer Park in Sarnath.. Traditionally held on the full-moon day of the eighth lunar month (approximately July), this celebration also marks the time when the Buddha and his followers went into retreat for several months during the rainy season. The day is usually celebrated with teachings from the Buddha's first sermon at Deer Park. The festival is also called Asalha Puja Vesak. See Buddist Lent Below. [Source: Jacob Kinnard, Worldmark Encyclopedia of Religious Practices, 2018, Encyclopedia.com]

In Myanmar, Abhidhamma Day celebrates the occasion when the Buddha is said to have gone to the Tushita heaven to teach his dead mother the Abhidharma. It is held on the full moon of the seventh month of the Burmese lunar year starting in April, which corresponds to the full-moon day in October. In Sri Lanka, the Festival of the Tooth takes place in Kandy, where the tooth relic of the Buddha is enshrined. The tooth itself, kept deep inside many caskets, is never actually seen. But once a year in August, on the night of the full moon, there is a special procession for it, which was traditionally said to protect the kingdom.

Buddha’s Birthday

Buddha's birthday is celebrated in many Asian countries. In some places it is observed on the eighth day of the fourth lunar month (usually late April or early May). In other places it is celebrated on the full moon of the ancient lunar month of Vesakha (the first full-moon day in May or early June). Depending on the place it is celebrated with lantern parades, tolling of temple bells, deep bows before images of Buddha, monks chanting scriptures to the beat of wooden gongs, processions around pagodas, crowds chanting for peace and praising Buddha, and displays of lanterns hung inside and outside of temples.

Vesak in Sri Lanka

Buddha's birthday in some places celebrates the birth, enlightenment, and death of the Buddha, all of which tradition holds occurred on the same day. Many Buddhists visit their local temples for chanting and teachings, and offerings are given to the monks. Gifts of food and clothing are also laid at the feet of the Buddha statue in the temple. In Japan, Buddha's Birthday or Hana Matsuri is celebrated in April at all Buddhist temples by devotees placing flowers in the temples and sometimes pouring tea on Buddha's head. [Source: Encyclopedia.com]

Koreans celebrate Buddha's birthday on the eighth day of the fourth lunar month (usually late April or early May) by making lotus lanterns, a custom that reportedly dates back to the 7th century. Shaped like lotuses, the Buddhist symbol of self-development, the lanterns carry a candle, which represents wisdom, and the dispelling of ignorance and darkness. Silk lanterns are made in the shape of watermelons, carp, turtles, bells and supernatural things. On the night of Buddha's birthday the colored lanterns are set up at Buddhist temples all over South Korea and lit up. A lantern parade is held in the evening at Youido Plaza in Seoul. Buddhist followers carrying lanterns of different colors circle a temple three time and then stand around a temple. The view looking down on the festival from the nearby buildings and hills is magical. Statues of Buddha are also bathed on this day.

Sangha Day

Bun Vat Phu in Laos

Sangha Day — also known as Fourfold Assembly or Magha Puja Day — is the second most important Buddhist festival. Observed by most Threravada Buddhists on the first full moon day of the third lunar month, usually some time in February or March, it is a major uposatha or holy day. The Pali word sangha (in Sanskrit, samgha) means "community" or "assembly," and usually refers to monks in the monastic communities, although it can refer to all Buddhists, lay or monastic.

Sangha Day celebrates the religious community, or sangha, and recalls the time when 1,250 monks gathered to hear the Buddha's first sermon, the Turning of the Wheel of Law or Truth. This sermon detailed the rules for monastic orders. In a tradition similar to Christmas, gifts are exchanged on Sangha Day. According to the BBC: “Sangha Day commemorates the spontaneous gathering of 1,250 enlightened monks (arahants) to hear the Buddha preach at Veluvana Vihara. At this gathering, the Buddha gave his first sermon, or recitation of the Patimokkha (the rules and regulations of the monastic order). It is a celebration in honour of the Sangha, or the Buddhist community. For some Buddhists Sangha refers only to monks and nuns. It is a chance for people to reaffirm their commitment to Buddhist practices and traditions. [Source: BBC |::|]

On Sangha Day Buddhists celebrate both the ideal of creating a spiritual community, and also the actual spiritual community which they are trying to create. The Sangha is precious in Buddhism as without those in the community to look up to or share aspirations with, the spiritual life would be very challenging. Sangha Day is a traditional time for exchange of gifts; it has become a prominent festival among Western Buddhists even though it is less well known in the East. Celebrations vary, but can include chanting, meditation, the lighting of oil lamps, and the reaffirmation of people's commitment to Buddhist practice.

Buddhist Lent

Buddhist Lent, which lasts from July or August until October, is a three-month period when members of Sangha (Buddhist monks) go into a rainy season retreat. During this "rains retreat" Buddhist monks are expected to stay in their own temple to study the Buddha’s teaching as well as meditating. They are not allowed to travel anywhere or revert to being laymen. [Source: Laos-Guide-999.com ==]

Buddhist Lent

The retreat months are called Vassa or Khao Pansa. It s is a time for Buddhists to renew their belief. It begins with the holiday Dharma Day and ends with the festival of Kathina (held within a month of the end of Vassa). This is a time when new robes are given to the monks by the people of the community. Kathina is also called Pavarana Day (Boun Ok Pansa) It marks the end of Lent, the end of the rainy seasonand marks the conclusion of the rainy-season retreat (vassa).

In some countries Vassa is the preferred day for Buddhist men to be ordained as monks. According to legend Buddha’s followers did not stop their wandering during the rainy season and people began to complain that they were trampling on the rice fields and worried they might damage seedlings or small creatures in the fields. When the Buddha heard these worries he forbade the monks to leave their temples for three months. ==

During this time devout people often abstain from alcohol. They pray for assistance and guidance to encourage merit and happiness in their lives. It encourages them to follow the five major Buddhist precepts: don’t kill animals; don’t steal or engage in corrupt acts; don’t commit adultery; don’t lie; and avoid drinking alcohol. Many take time away from work to make merit for deceased relatives. They also offer robes to the monks. ==

During this three month Buddhist lent monks and novices can't leave their monasteries to become lay people. Traditionally lay people have not been allowed to get married until the end of the Buddist Lent period. Lent ends on the full moon in October with the Kathin ceremony when monks receive gifts. The months of Buddhist Lent are the most usual time for the ordination of young men, who enter the monkhood for short periods before they marry and are marked by numerous ordination ceremonies. ==

Festival That Mark the Beginning of Buddhist Lent in Laos

Boun Khao Phansa marks the beginning of Buddhist Lent in Laos. Early the morning of Boun Khao Phansa people prepare donations of food (particularly khaotom, rice, banana or pork wrapped in banana leaves) and necessities like soap, toothpaste and toothbrushes and towels for the monks. Most temples are very busy during this time with people making merit and giving their donations. At the end of these merit-making activities the monks will recite the teachings of Buddha and tell the history of Lent to temple goers. Later in the evening monks, novices and laypeople bring flowers and candles and walk around the central temple three times. [Source: Laos-Guide-999.com ==] The Waso Festival in Myanmar in June or July marks the beginning of Buddhist Lent there. Buddhists give robes to monks and people gather flowers to leave at temples as offerings. Monks study harder. Many people who are not monks act like monks for a period of time. Everybody is generally is more "monklike" in their behavior.

Waso falls on the full moon day in June or July. At pagodas. monks are offered free meals and a robe-giving ceremony is performed with pomp and pageantry by disciples. Waso Robe-Offering is performed to commemorate Buddha’s first sermon. The full-moon day of Waso is very significant, because this is the day Buddha was conceived, the day that He renounced worldly pleasures, and the day He preached the first sermon of Dhamma Cakka and the day that He performed the miracles of super natural powers.

Waso is the fourth month on the in Myanmar calendar. It falls during the summer rainy seasons. The robes offered to monks are called Waso robes because they are offered in the month of Waso. Offering a robe to a monk is considered a significant and meritorious deed. Also at this time young men and women have traditionally gone on outings to gathering flowers to be offered to Buddha images at pagodas and at homes.

Kathina

Thailand's Prime Minister offering a Kathina robe

The Kathina (Robe Offering) Ceremony is held on an auspicious day within one month of the conclusion of the three-month rainy-season retreat for the monastic order. Usually taking place in October and celebrated by Theravada Buddhists, the ceremony marks not only the return of the monks into the larger community but the time when new robes and other requisites may be offered by the laity to the monks and nuns. [Source: Jacob Kinnard, Worldmark Encyclopedia of Religious Practices, 2018, Encyclopedia.com]

Kathina marks the end of Buddhist Lent. According to the BBC: “The Kathina festival, which originated 2,500 years ago, celebrates the largest alms-giving ceremony of the Buddhist year. It occurs at the end of the Vassa, or monsoon, period, in October and November. During the Vassa period, normally nomadic Buddhist monks will have remained in one place for three months, and the Kathina celebration marks the time for them to move on. The offering of a robe can take place up to one month following the end of the Vassa period, from 19th October to 16 November. [Source: BBC |::|]

“According to the scriptures, a group of thirty monks were journeying together with the intention of spending the Vassa period with the Lord Buddha, but the Vassa began before they reached their destination and so they had to stop. The monks were upset that they were unable to be with Buddha, who later heard of their plight. As a reward Buddha gave some cloth, which he had acquired as a gift from one of the lay community, to the monks and told them to sew a robe and then bestow it upon one of their company. The Buddha said that there was nothing as uplifting as generosity and sharing, and so the monks set about sewing a new set of robes. They used a frame, called a Kathina, on which to spread the cloth as they were making it. |::|

“Lay supporters now continue this tradition at the end of the Vassa. The cloth giving is a gift of the followers of Buddhism, and therefore no monk is allowed to request or organise the festival. The cloth, according to Buddha, must be offered to the whole Sangha community, who will then decide among themselves who receives the gift. Buddhist families take joy in offering cloth to their teachers. About three metres of cloth is all that is needed, but very often other items are offered as well. On the day of the festival, people begin to arrive at the monastery and begin by sharing a meal. At about 1 o clock, they will formally offer the cloth and other gifts. |::|

“Two monks will be presented with the cloth on behalf of the whole Sangha community. These monks will then formally announce the member of the community who will receive the cloth once it has been made up. The monks will spend much of the night preparing and cutting the cloth, and finally sewing it together to form a robe. The formal Sangha act (Sangha Kamma) of presenting the cloth to the chosen monk may take place much later in the evening, when it is ceremonially presented to the nominated monk.” |::|

In Thailand, at the end of the Kathin Festival season, the Loy Krathong (Floating Bowls) Festival takes place on the full-moon night of the 12th lunar month. People bring bowls made of leaves that they fill with flowers, candles, and incense and then float in the water. As the bowls float away, all bad luck is said to disappear. The traditional practice of Loy Krathong was meant to pay homage to the holy footprint of the Buddha on the beach of the Namada River in India.

Boun Awk Phansa: End of Buddhist Lent in Laos

Boun Awk Phansa marks the last day of the Buddhist Lent in Laos. It occurs in October, three lunar months after Khao Phansa on the 15th day of the 11th month of the lunar calendar. It is a day of many celebrations, most notably the boat race festival held in Vientiane. On the first day at dawn, donations and offerings are made at temples around the country; in the evening, candlelight processions are held around the temples and it is the celebration of lai heua fai or Loi ka thong, when everyone sends small lighted ‘boats’ made of banana stems or banana leaves decorated with candles and flowers down the rivers. [Source: Laos-Guide-999.com ==]

These are said to pay respect to the Buddha and to thank the mother of rivers for providing water for our lives. Some believe that the lai heua fai procession is an act to pay respect to nagas that lives in the rivers, while others send the lighted boats down the river to ask for blessing and to float bad luck of the past year away enabling the good luck to flow in. Most towns with a river bank nearby will engage in this lovely ceremony. In bigger towns there are also processions of lighted boats, and the ceremony is more popular especially among young romantic couples. Villagers who live far from rivers set up model boats (made of banana stems) decorated with flowers and candlelight, while others simply light up some candles in front of their houses and do their little prayer wishing for good luck. This colorful rituals have been carried on by Lao people for thousands of years. ==

Bun Vat Phu lantern in Laos

In addition, the evening before the boat race is the day the celebrated Naga fireballs are supposed to appear. The Naga fireballs are a phenomenon peculiar to the Mekong. The Naga is a mythical water dragon believed to live in the Mekong and on the night of 15th day of 11th month in the Lao lunar calendar at the end of Buddhist Lent he is supposed to shoot up pink-red fireballs to signify the occasion. Some believe, while others doubt they are real. Still today there is a festival surrounding this time and certain areas of both the Thai and Lao sides of the river are packed out with willing sightseers, who also take the time to enjoy the multitude of food and drink stands which spring up to cater for them during their wait. ==

This extraordinary phenomenon occurs in the area of the Mekong River stretching over 20km between Pak-Ngeum district, about 80km south of the Lao capital Vientiane, and Phonephisai district in Nong Khai province, Thailand. On the Lao side, some people say they can see the fireballs floating in the area of the ponds and rice fields near their villages. On the Thai side, the fireball shoots up in a pond locally known as Nong Pra Lay, residents say. In Laos you can hire a taxi or truck to take you and from the site, but be prepared for traffic jams and crowds. ==

The day of the boat racing festival in Vientiane is spectacular. This year (2010), the Boun Awk Phansa day (the day the Buddhist lent ends) falls on the 23th October and the Vientiane boat racing day is on the 24th. The town comes alive with noise and festivity as the teams make their way to the river either by truck or walking, banging drums and singing. The races start around 9am when the heats kick off. Thousands of spectators cram along the river banks and cheer their teams. The streets are lined with food stalls, sideshows where you can win small prizes and stalls selling all manner of clothes and other items. The final happens around mid-afternoon, by which time everyone is normally quite merry. ==

Thadingyut: End of Buddhist Lent in Myanmar

The Thadingyut Festival (Festival of Lights) in September or October in Myanmar marks the end of Buddhist Lent. It lasts for three days and is held around the time of the full moon in October. Celebrating the day that Buddha's spirit returned to earth, it is marked with the lighting of oil lanterns, candles and electric lights at night and the performing of meritorious deeds at pagodas. Special fire balloons are sent into the sky, and people dance, party and have a good time.

Thadingyut is the seventh month on Burmese calendar and the end of Lent. The three day lights festival is held on the day before full moon, the full moon day and the day after. Illuminations celebrate the anniversary of Buddha's return from the celestial abode where He had spent Lent teaching the celestials about His Law. Among the gods was the one who was the mother of Buddha reborn there. It was on the full moon day of Thadingyut month that Buddha descended to the abode of humans. He and His disciples were attended by a heavenly host of celestials who created a pathway with star ladder. Buddhist on earth illuminate their homes and streets to welcome Buddha and His disciples.

In Taunggyi a hot-air balloon competition is held in which people flock to the fields and watch hot-air balloon of various sizes, shapes and colors float into the sky. At night balloons are launched with fireworks, dangling lights, parachutes lanterns, banners and streamers attached to them. "Ozi" and "dohbat" music is played. In the town of Kyaukse (26 miles south of Mandalay) and other town in other parts of the country, Thadingyut is celebrated with colorful parades with life-size white paper elephants carrying replicas of the tooth of Buddha on their back. The white elephants are decked out in ornaments. There are also dancing black elephants. Each paper elephant has two men inside.

The full-moon day of Thadingyut (usually in October) marks the descent of Buddha from Tavadinsa or the abode of devas. Around this time, pagodas, buildings, public parks and houses are decorated with strings of electric lights, oil lanterns and candles, and young people pay respect to their elders by offering them gifts of fruits, cakes or pieces of textiles. Mahamuni temple in Sittwe celebrates an annual lighting festival at the end of Buddhist Lent which usually falls in the month of October and November.

Thadingyut

Thadingyut occurs towards the end of rainy season. Lord Gautama Buddha preached The Abhidamma to His reincarnated mother in Tavatimsa,abode of celestial beings, for three Lenten months and returned to the abode of men on the full- moon day of Thadingyut . The King of the celestials created three stairways, gold, silver and ruby for him. Buddha took the middle ruby stairways radiating six hues of aura. The celestials came along by the right gold stairways and the brahmas by the left silver stairways . On account of that, Myanmar Buddhists celebrate Tavatimsa Festival on the full-moon day of Thadingyut by lighting multi-colored illuminations. For the Sangha it is the time known as Pawayana, which means inviting, entreating, urging. In practice, since the times of the Buddha, it is a time for monks to implore one another for forgiveness of any deed that might have displeased any other members of the Sangha. Like wise, there is also the practice among the laity of paying respects to parents and elders.

In Myanmar, the "Food Offering Ceremony" is held at the end of Buddhist Lent in conjunction with the Thadingyut Light Festival . According to traditions, there are many different ways of offering food to the Lord Buddha. Among them is the annual food offering ceremony in Shwekyin Township, Bago Division held on the full-moon day of Thadingyut. Devotees offer fruits, food, flowers, water and light at Ashae Maha Buddha Pagoda early in the morning at dawn on the full moon's day. Devotees from all round the country perform meritorious deeds such as offering food to Buddha.

Parinirvana

Parinirvana is a Mahayana Buddhist festival that marks the death of the Buddha. It is also known as Nirvana Day. According to the BBC: “ Buddhists celebrate the death of the Buddha, because they believe that having attained Enlightenment he achieved freedom from physical existence and its sufferings. The Buddha's death came when he was eighty years old, and had spent forty years teaching after his Enlightenment. He died in a state of meditation, and attained nirvana, a release from the cycle of death and rebirth. [Source: BBC |::|]

“The Parinirvana Sutta describes the Buddha's last days, and passages from it are often read on Parinirvana Day. Buddhists celebrate Parinirvana Day by meditating or by going to Buddhist temples or monasteries. As with other Buddhist festivals, celebrations vary throughout the world. In monasteries Parinirvana Day is treated as a social occasion. Food is prepared and some people bring presents such as money, household goods or clothes. |::|

“The day is used as an opportunity to reflect on the fact of one's own future death, and on friends or relations who have recently passed away. The idea that all things are transient is central to Buddhist teaching. Loss and impermanence are things to be accepted rather than causes of grief. Meditations are carried out for the newly deceased to give them help and support wherever they might be now. |::|

Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons except Cambodian Buddhist calendar, Cambodian Buddhists of Colorado

Text Sources: East Asia History Sourcebook sourcebooks.fordham.edu , “Topics in Japanese Cultural History” by Gregory Smits, Penn State University figal-sensei.org, Asia for Educators, Columbia University; Asia Society Museum “The Essence of Buddhism” Edited by E. Haldeman-Julius, 1922, Project Gutenberg, Virtual Library Sri Lanka; “World Religions” edited by Geoffrey Parrinder (Facts on File Publications, New York); “Encyclopedia of the World's Religions” edited by R.C. Zaehner (Barnes & Noble Books, 1959); “Encyclopedia of the World Cultures: Volume 5 East and Southeast Asia” edited by Paul Hockings (G.K. Hall & Company, New York, 1993); BBC, Wikipedia, National Geographic, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Smithsonian magazine, The New Yorker, Reuters, AP, AFP, and various books and other publications.

Last updated March 2024