Magha Puja

Makha Bucha Day
Also called Makha Bucha Day
Tabaung Full Moon Day
Navam Poya
Meak Bochea
Observed by Cambodian, Lao, Burmese, Nepalese Sri Lankan and Thai Theravada Buddhists
Type Buddhist
Date Full moon day of the 3rd lunar month
2016 date 22 February[1]
2017 date 11 February
10 February (Sri Lanka)[2]
2018 date March 1

Māgha Pūjā (Burmese: တပို့တွဲလပြည့်နေ့ ; Khmer: មាឃបូជា, ; Lao: ມະຄະບູຊາ; Thai: มาฆบูชา; Sinhalese: නවම් පොහොය) is an important Buddhist festival celebrated on the full moon day of Māgha in Cambodia, Laos, Nepal, Thailand and on the full moon day of Tabodwe in Myanmar. The spiritual aims of the day are not to commit any kind of sins; do only good; purify one's mind. Māgha Pūjā is a public holiday in Cambodia, Laos, Nepal, Myanmar and Thailand and is an occasion when Buddhists tend to go to the temple to perform merit-making activities.[3] In Sri Lanka this full moon day is called Navam Poya. Although it is a public holiday in Sri Lanka, it is celebrated just as any full moon day is and there are no special festivals, unlike in Southeast Asia.[4]

It was ten full months after Buddha got enlightenment, on the full-moon day of 6th lunar month, 45 years before the Buddhist era.
Magha Puja Day in Wat Khung Taphao, Uttaradit Province, Thailand.

Etymology

The third lunar month is known in the Thai language as Makha (Pali: Māgha); Bucha is also a Thai word (Pali: Pūjā), meaning "to venerate" or "to honor". As such, Makha Bucha Day is for the veneration of Buddha and his teachings on the full moon day of the third lunar month.

Alternative names

Origin

Māgha Pūjā day marks the four auspicious occasions occurring at the Veḷuvana bamboo grove, near Rājagaha in northern India ten months after the enlightenment of the Buddha. On that occasion, as recorded in the commentary to the Mahāsamayasutta (DN 20) four marvellous events occurred:

  1. 1,250 disciples came to see the Buddha that evening without being summoned.
  2. All of them were Arahants, Enlightened Ones, and
  3. All were ordained by the Buddha himself: Ehi-bhikkhus.
  4. It was the full-moon day.

On this occasion the Buddha gave those Arahants the principles of Buddhism, called "The ovadapatimokha".[7] Those principles are: To cease from all evil; To do what is good; To cleanse one's mind. In Thailand, this teaching has been dubbed the "heart of Buddhism".

Celebrations and Observances

Burma (Myanmar)

In Burma, Magha Puja, called the "Full Moon of Tabaung" or "Tabodwe Full Moon Day" (တပို့တွဲလပြည့်နေ့), is a traditional merit-making day for Buddhists.[8] Tabottwal is the month before last month of the year in the traditional Burmese calendar. The country's largest pagoda festival, the Shwedagon Pagoda Festival, begins during the new moon of the month of Tabodwe in the traditional Burmese calendar and continues until the full moon.[9] The festival begins with a nakyake shitsu ceremony for offerings to the 28 Buddhas (from Taṇhaṅkara to Gotama), followed by a 10-day, nonstop recital of the Patthana, Buddhist scriptures on the 24 causes of worldly phenomena.[10]

Other pagoda festivals are held on this day, including the Shwe Settaw Pagoda Festival in Magwe Region's Minbu Township and the Alaungdaw Kathapa Pagoda Festival, near the Alaungdaw Kathapa National Park in Sagaing Region.[11][12]

A youth program held in Thailand. The youth are joining in with a Magha Puja celebration.

The Full Moon of Tabaung also coincides with the Pa-O National Day, traditionally set on the day of King Suriyachanda's birth.[13]

Thailand

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Holidays in Thailand in 2016". OfficeHolidays. Retrieved 4 Mar 2015.
  2. ↑ http://www.sundaytimes.lk/article/1016715/significance-of-navam-poya
  3. ↑ http://calenworld.com/religion/buddhist-calendar
  4. ↑ Robertson, Alec. Significance of the Full Moons in Buddhism. Buddhist Cultural Centre, Dehiwala 1998.
  5. ↑ The Importance of Navam poya
  6. 1 2 "Sangha Day". BBC. 7 May 2004. Retrieved 1 March 2017.
  7. ↑ D.ii.49, Dh.183
  8. ↑ "Meritorious deeds performed at religious edifices throughout nation on Full Moon Day of Tabodwe". New Light of Myanmar. 19 Mar 2011. Archived from the original on November 13, 2011. Retrieved 8 Mar 2012.
  9. ↑ "Banned festival resumed at Shwedagon Pagoda". Mizzima News. 22 Feb 2012. Archived from the original on 2012-02-25. Retrieved 23 Feb 2012.
  10. ↑ Thein, Cherry (10 Mar 2008). "Shwedagon Tabaung festival". Myanmar Times. Retrieved 8 Mar 2012.
  11. ↑ Moh Moh Thaw (28 Mar 2011). "Pilgrims flock to Shwesettaw for Tabaung". Myanmar Times. Retrieved 8 Mar 2012.
  12. ↑ Thein, Cherry (2 Jan 2012). "Trustees ready remote Alaungdaw Kathapa for festival season". Myanmar Times. Retrieved 8 Mar 2012.
  13. ↑ Nandar Chann (May 2004). "Pa-O: The Forgotten People". The Irrawaddy. Archived from the original on 2012-02-17. Retrieved 8 Mar 2012.
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