Magha Puja

Māgha Pūjā
The Buddha giving a discourse on Māgha Pūjā
Also called Saṅgha Day[1][2]
Fourfold Assembly Day[1]
Boun Khao Chi (Laotian language)
Observed by Cambodian, Lao, Burmese, Sri Lankan and Thai Theravada Buddhists
Type Buddhist
Observances procession with light, general merit-making activities
Date Full moon day of the 3rd lunar month
2017 date 11 February
10 February (Sri Lanka)[3]
2018 date March 1
Translations of
Burmese တပို့တွဲလပြည့်နေ့
Khmer មាឃបូជា
(UNGEGN: Meak Bochea)
Lao ມະຄະບູຊາ
Sinhalese නවම් පොහොය
(Navam Poya[4])
Thai มาฆบูชา
(RTGS: Makha Bucha Day[5])
Glossary of Buddhism

Māgha Pūjā is the second most important Buddhist festival,[1] celebrated on the full moon day of the third lunar month[2] in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Sri Lanka 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, Myanmar and Thailand and is an occasion when Buddhists go to the temple to perform merit-making activities.[6]

Magha Puja Day in Wat Khung Taphao, Uttaradit Province, Thailand.

On Māgha Pūjā, Buddhists celebrate the creation of an ideal and exemplary community, which is why it is sometimes called "Saṅgha Day". The Saṅgha refers to the Buddhist community, and for some Buddhist schools this is specifically the monastic community.[1]

Origins

Māgha Pūjā day marks an event occurring at the Veḷuvana grove, near Rājagaha (present Rajgir) in northern India,[1][7] ten months after the enlightenment of the Buddha. A meeting is then held, that traditionally has four characteristics:

  1. 1,250 disciples come to see the Buddha that evening without being summoned;[1]
  2. All of them are Arahants, enlightened disciples;[2]
  3. All have been ordained by the Buddha himself, and therefore are his direct spiritual descendants;[2][5]
  4. It is the full-moon day of the third lunar month.[2]

On this occasion the Buddha teaches those arahants a summary of Buddhism, called the "Ovādapatimokha".[1] Those principles are: "The non-doing of evil / the full performance of what is wholesome / the total purification of the mind."[8][9] According to the traditional Pāli commentaries, the Buddha continued to teach this summary for a period of twenty years, after which the custom was replaced by the recitation of the monastic discipline code by the Saṅgha themselves.[10]

Apart from the religious meaning, Māgha Pūjā also reflects the Southeast Asian agricultural year, as it is celebrated after the harvest.[8] Māgha Pūjā is also the day that the Buddha announced he would die in three months.[5][11]

It is unknown how traditional Buddhist societies celebrated this event in pre-modern times. The first known instance was during the reign of the Thai king Rama IV (1804–68), who instituted it. His successor Rama V (1853–1910) expanded the practice and organized it as a national celebration in the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. From Thailand, the practice spread to neighboring countries.[12]

Celebrations and observances

Māgha Pūjā is a day that laypeople make merit. Monastics and devotees will hold processions, light candles, and make offerings.[5] Māgha Pūjā is celebrated most extensively in Thailand,[13] but it is a national holiday in most Southeast Asian countries.[11]

Myanmar

In Burma, Magha Puja is called the "Tabodwe Full Moon Day" (တပို့တွဲလပြည့်နေ့), and is a traditional merit-making day.[14] Tabodwe 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.[15] The festival begins with a nakyake shitsu ceremony for offerings to the 28 Buddhas (from Taṇhaṅkara to Gotama), followed by a 10-day, non-stop recital of the Patthana, Buddhist scriptures on the 24 causes of worldly phenomena.[16]

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.[17][18]

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.[19]

Thailand

In Thailand, Māgha Pūjā was instituted by Rama IV.[20] It is currently designated as a national holiday.[21][13] On the evening of Māgha Pūjā, most temples in Thailand hold a candlelight procession called a wian thian (wian meaning to circle around; thian meaning candle).[11] Holding flowers, incense and a lighted candle, the monks and congregation members circumambulate clockwise for three times, around the phra ubosot (ordination hall), once for each of the Three Jewels: the Buddha, the teaching of the Buddha, and the Sangha. Furthermore, people will 'make merit' (Thai: tham bun) by going to temples and by joining in with activities. For example, observing the Five or Eight Precepts (Thai: rap sin), practicing meditation and mental discipline, staying in the temple, and wearing white robes. This is usually done for a number of days.

Other countries

In Chinese communities, a similar festival is observed.[22] Moreover, Māgha Pūjā has also become a popular event among Western Buddhists.[1][13]

See also

  • List of Buddhist festivals
  • Chotrul Duchen, a festival celebrated in Tibet as an Uposatha day and falls on around the same day as Māgha Pūjā
  • First Full Moon Festival, a festival celebrated in China, Japan, Korea and Vietnam as an Uposatha day and to mark the end of the Lunar New Year, falling on or around the same day as Māgha Pūjā

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Sangha Day". BBC. 7 May 2004. Retrieved 1 March 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Irons 2008, p. 199.
  3. ↑ http://www.sundaytimes.lk/article/1016715/significance-of-navam-poya
  4. ↑ Robertson, Alec. Significance of the Full Moons in Buddhism. Buddhist Cultural Centre, Dehiwala 1998.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Bhaskar, V.S. (2009). Faith and Philosophy of Buddhism. Kalpaz Publications. pp. 259–60. ISBN 8178357224.
  6. ↑ http://calenworld.com/religion/buddhist-calendar
  7. ↑ Melton 2011, p. 538, Magha Puja Day.
  8. 1 2 Swearer, Donald K. (2010). The Buddhist World of Southeast Asia (PDF) (2nd ed.). State University of New York Press. p. 38. ISBN 978-1-4384-3251-9.
  9. ↑ Melton 2011, p. 538, Māgha Pūjā.
  10. ↑ Payutto, Phra (1993). พจนานุกรมพุทธศาสตร์ ฉบับประมาลศัพท์ [Dictionary of Buddhism, Vocabulary] (PDF) (in Thai) (7th ed.). Bangkok: Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University. p. 575. ISBN 974-575-029-8.
  11. 1 2 3 Ling, Trevor; Axelrod, Steven (1979). Buddha, Marx, and God: Some Aspects of Religion in the Modern World. Macmillan Press. p. 70. ISBN 978-1-349-16054-9.
  12. ↑ Melton 2011, pp. 538, 699, Māgha Pūjā Day, Ploughing Day.
  13. 1 2 3 Melton 2011, p. 539, Magha Puja Day.
  14. ↑ "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.
  15. ↑ "Banned festival resumed at Shwedagon Pagoda". Mizzima News. 22 Feb 2012. Archived from the original on 2012-02-25. Retrieved 23 Feb 2012.
  16. ↑ Thein, Cherry (10 Mar 2008). "Shwedagon Tabaung festival". Myanmar Times. Retrieved 8 Mar 2012.
  17. ↑ Moh Moh Thaw (28 Mar 2011). "Pilgrims flock to Shwesettaw for Tabaung". Myanmar Times. Retrieved 8 Mar 2012.
  18. ↑ Thein, Cherry (2 Jan 2012). "Trustees ready remote Alaungdaw Kathapa for festival season". Myanmar Times. Retrieved 8 Mar 2012.
  19. ↑ Nandar Chann (May 2004). "Pa-O: The Forgotten People". The Irrawaddy. Archived from the original on 2012-02-17. Retrieved 8 Mar 2012.
  20. ↑ Melton 2011, p. 699, Ploughing Day.
  21. ↑ Tetsunori, Koizumi; 幸泉, 哲紀; コイズミ, テツノリ (25 March 2004). "Adoption and Adaptation of an Imported Culture: Buddhism in Thailand and Korea". Ryukoku University Institute for International Society and Culture: 182.
  22. ↑ Irons 2008, p. 542.

References

  • Irons, Edward A. (2008), Encyclopedia of Buddhism (PDF), Encyclopedia of World Religions, Facts on File, ISBN 978-0-8160-5459-6
  • Melton, J. Gordon (2011), Melton, J. Gordon, ed., Religious Celebrations: An Encyclopedia of Holidays, Festivals, Solemn Observances, and Spiritual Commemorations (PDF), ABC-CLIO, ISBN 1-59884-205-6
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