LORD BUDDHA’S BIRTH DAY
Buddha Jayanti festival is celebrated today, 14 May, 2014, in different parts of Nepal. Buddha Jayanti is dedicated to the celebration of Lord Buddha’s birth day. Buddha Jayanti is one of the greatest festival of Nepal. It is considered as the national festival. The government of Nepal has declared national holiday on this day. Both Buddhist and Hindu people celebrate Buddha Jayanti. Although the Buddhists community pays more attention to the celebration.
Buddha Jayanti falls on full moon day of Baisakh Nepali month which is called as Baisakh Purnima. The major places in Nepal to celebrate Buddha Jayanti largely are Lumbini, the birth place of Lord Buddha, Swoyambhunath, White Gumba and Bouddhanath in Kathmandu and Namobouddha in Kavre. As most of the people in mountain areas belong to Buddhism , this festival is celebrated in different Buddhist monasteries and stupas in mountain areas. In most of places and communities, Buddha Jayanti is celebrated for a week of Baisakh Purnima with various programmes.
‘Swanya Punhi’ is another name of this festival meaning full moon day of the follower. Different sources explain Kathmandu valley as a lake where the Buddha appeared in a form of lotus flower. Therefore, Buddha Jayanti is also as a festival of lotus flower.
Today, the skull bone of Lord Buddha brought from the ‘Temple of Tooth’ in Shri Lanka is was shown to the public in the Bouddhanath stupa, one of the holy places of all Buddhists of the world.
Many Buddha followers visited Bouddhanath, Swoyambhunath, White Gumba, Namobouddha and other Bouddhist monasteries and stupas and worshipped Buddha from early morning till evening today. People that visited the Bouddhist monasteries and stupas benefited directly or indirectly from the philosophy, including the message Lord Buddha gave ‘ let more people be in happiness.
