Buddha Jayanti

Posted by: Admin | Date: April 25, 2010

Buddha Jayanti is a triple festival celebrating the birth, enlightenment and death of the Buddha. The stunning stupas at Swoyambhunath and Boudhanath in Kathmandu are the main focus of festivities, but celebrations also take place in various ways all over Nepal.
Buddha Jayanti or also known as Buddha Purnima is the most sacred festivals of Buddhist. Buddha Purnima (Buddha Birthday) is celebrated in remembrance Lord Buddha. Lord Buddha is the founder of Buddhism. This day is the birth anniversary of Lord Buddha. It falls on the full moon of the fourth lunar month (month of Vaisakh) i.e. April or May. This day commemorates three important events of Buddha's life

- His birth in 623 BC.
- His enlighten i.e. attainment of supreme wisdom, in 588 BC.
- His attainment of Nirvana i.e. the complete extinction of his self at the age of 80.

This day is a thrice blessed day. Lord Buddha is considered the ninth avatar (incarnation) of Vishnu (Preserver in the Hindu Holy Trinity of Creator-Preserver-Destroyer). Gautam Buddha "lived and died in about the fifth century before the Christian era". Buddha means "enlightened one" - someone who is completely free from all faults and mental obstructions.

The ever benevolent Buddha was born in Nepal, and the religion he preached is the, second most popular in the kingdom. On May 27, a full moon day, the Lord's birth, enlightenment, and salvation are applauded throughout the valley with celebrations. Swayambhu and Boudhanath Stupas are prepared for the oncoming festivities several days in advance. Monasteries are cleaned, statues are polished, bright prayer flags waft in the breeze, and monks prepare to dance. On the Jayanti day, people reach the stupas before dawn, go around them and give offerings to the many Buddha images there. In this day in Lumbini the statue of the Buddha is kept in a chariot (khata) and taken in a procession in Lumbini area amidst music of the musician, songs of the women, prayers of the males and sacred slogans of Buddhism, such as Om Nano Shanta Rupāya, Om Namo Buddhaya and Om mani padame hu. Finally, after reaching the proposed site some monk, nun and Buddhist scholars deliver speech highlighting the deeper significance of the Buddha's serman and Buddhism to the mass who gather there. On this procession, Honorable Ministers, Monks Nuns, His Excellency Ambassadors, associated with Buddhism, Buddhist scholars also take part in the programme.

In many venues, statues of the Buddha are carried by maroon-clad monks in processions throughout the night. Devotional lights and flickering candles illuminate these awesome parades, as well as the temples where they originate.

Buddha was born in Lumbini in the province of Terai in Nepal, but he soon left the country and travelled to India. His philosophy was first introduced to the country by the Indian emperor Ashok, centuries after his death in 250 BC. Later, Tibetan Buddhism was brought to Nepal by the ancestors of the sherpas coming over the Himalayas from Tibet in the 8th century AD. It has remained strong in the country ever since, finding an easy blend with Hinduism, more a philosophy of life than a galaxy of gods. All Buddhist festivals are full of peaceful charm, but this one has to be one of the best.

 

MORE:

• Dashain : Biggest Festival in Nepal | September 23, 2011
• Buddha Jayanti | April 25, 2010
• Bala Chaturdasi | November 13, 2009
• Bisket Jatra | October 07, 2009