How Vesak Day is celebrated in Myanmar?
Festivities for Vesak Day begin at almost all of places in Myanmar, as devout Buddhists congregate at temples for a ceremony.
Buddha was born , gain enlightenment and entered to Nirvana on Full moon day of Kasone month(Myanmar Lunar calendar) so Myanmar people regard Full Moon Day of Kasone as religious day. Myanmar people also called Buddha Day. All of offices , shops , markets and banks are closed on this day and people do goo deeds.
This is when the Buddhist flag is hoisted, and hymns are sung in praise of the Buddha, the Dharma (his teachings), and the Sangha (his disciples).
Offerings and good deeds
Offerings of flowers, candles and joss sticks are also brought to the temples. The fact that the candles and joss sticks burn down and the flowers wither is meant to remind all worshippers that life is fleeting and transient, that all things decay and eventually pass away.
On this day, Myanmar Buddhists offer alms food to monks, repeat the precepts recited by important religious leaders, adhere more closely to the Buddhist precepts, listen to teachings of Buddha taught by Buddhist monks and practice meditation. Some also gain merit by setting fish and birds free from captivity.
Watering to Buddhi trees
The Kasone Full Moon Day or the Buddha Day, hundreds of people and many Buddhist religious groups come to pour water from silver bowls into the enclosure around the Scared Bodhi Tree with ceremonies and pageantry. It is the day on which Prince Siddartha was born, on which He attained Buddhahood and on which He passed away, for the detail of the full moon day of Kasone .On the full moon day of Kason, as Buddha taught and preached that peoplee can also worship Bodhi Banyan tree on behalf of Buddha Himself. As the month of Kasone is at the middle of the hot season, the earth is dry and people pour water at the Maha-Bodhi tree to make sure it does not die of drought during the hot summer. This has become an integral part of Myanmar culture and on every full-moon day of Kasone, Buddhists would march in a grand procession to the Bodhi tree or to the pagodas to pour scented water in remembrance of Buddha.”
Processions
This has become an integral part of Myanmar culture and on every full-moon day of Kasone, Buddhists would march in a grand procession to the Bodhi tree or to the pagodas to pour scented water in remembrance of Buddha.
Did you know?
Burmese Buddhists mark this day by cooking a pot of rice in milk, marking Buddha’s last meal before the long fast that brought him to enlightenment.
Where to visit in Vesak Day?
Shwedagone pagoda in Yangon
