Makhu Bucha celebrations across the country

[snoop1130]

Makhu Bucha celebrations across the country

By THE NATION

 

Nakhon Si Thammarat

 

DEVOUT BUDDHISTS across the country attended merit-making events to mark Makha Bucha Day on Thursday.

 

Bangkok Governor Pol General Aswin Kwanmuang led officials and the public to offer morning alms to 68 monks at Khon Muang Plaza in front of City Hall, while various temples also organised a ritual of solemn candlelight procession circling three times around pagoda or Ubosot in the evening. 

 

Also in Bangkok, a large number of people showed up at the Thai Red Cross Society’s National Blood Center on Henry Dunant Road in Pathumwan district to make blood donations as a merit-making gesture to mark the occasion.

 

In Nakhon Si Thammarat’s Muang district, a “one-of-a-kind” procession was held to take thousand-yard-long red, yellow and white strip cloths –they are called “Phra Bot Cloth” and are imprinted with paintings about Lord Buddha’s life story –to wrap around the sacred Phra Borommahathat Chedi with the Buddha’s relics. It is an annual tradition which has been carried out for more than 800 years and is being recommended for UNESCO intangible world heritage status in 2020.

 

Elsewhere in the country devout Buddhists also made merit at temples via alms/food offerings to monks, attending sermons, meditating and praying as well as attending solemn candlelight processions. 

 

In the violence-plagued deep South, Buddhist people also made merit amid security provided by the Army and attended solemn candlelight processions. Several temples there arranged for the processions to take place during the daytime for safety reasons. In Yala’s Muang district, where 17 temples hosted Makha Bucha Day celebrations and only two of them staged their processions during the day, provincial governor Anuchit Trakulmututa led 200 public members, most of them students, to make merit at Wat Weruwan.

 

Up North in Phayao’s Muang district, provincial governor Narongsak Osotthanakorn led officials, public members and students to attend an impressive “Khao Thip” (pure rice) boat procession in the Kwan Phayao Lake to present rice and related offerings to the sacred Phra Chao Ton Luang statue at the lakeside Wat Sri Khom Kham.

 

Makha Bucha Day is an important Buddhist festival celebrated on the full moon day of the third lunar month to mark the “Four-fold Assembly” of 1,250 enlightened monks (arhat) that took place more than 2,500 years ago.

 

All of those monks, who had been ordained personally by Lord Buddha, met spontaneously that day with no prior scheduling. Lord Buddha thus addressed them, pronouncing the Ovat Patimok: “Do good, avoid evil and maintain the purity of your soul.”

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/breakingnews/30364418

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2019-02-19

[wgdanson]

39 minutes ago, snoop1130 said:

Makha Bucha Day is an important Buddhist festival celebrated on the full moon day of the third lunar month to mark the “Four-fold Assembly” of 1,250 enlightened monks (arhat) that took place more than 2,500 years ago.

 

All of those monks, who had been ordained personally by Lord Buddha, met spontaneously that day with no prior scheduling. Lord Buddha thus addressed them, pronouncing the Ovat Patimok: “Do good, avoid evil and maintain the

 

 

[KittenKong]

Makhu Bucha day reminds me of when the martial law curfew was in place a few years ago: no bars, no noise, no drunks, no traffic. All rather nice and civilised really.

[overherebc]

10 minutes ago, KittenKong said:

Makhu Bucha day reminds me of when the martial law curfew was in place a few years ago: no bars, no noise, no drunks, no traffic. All rather nice and civilised really.

Does sound nice.

Still got barking dogs and a few barking expats though. ????????

[legend49]

Nice day, followed a vehicle doing 50KPH in a 80 KPH zone. No hope of overtaking it as it moved from the motor bike lane into the oncoming traffic lane consistently, must have been a good alcohol free party, LOL.

[geoffbezoz]

11 hours ago, KittenKong said:

Makhu Bucha day reminds me of when the martial law curfew was in place a few years ago: no bars, no noise, no drunks, no traffic. All rather nice and civilised really.

Speak for yourself.  Visiting the wifes family yesterday up North and owing to rain on Saturday the local Amphur's villages sports were re-arranged to yesterday.   Not withstanding it was a Buddhist day, the local main sponsor was one of the candidates for the Junta's party !  He must have spent hundreds of thousands of Thai tax money buying all of the beer and whiskey , oh plus the competition prizes of course !!.  And strangely not one policeman or army person in sight, unusual indeed.   Certainly have picked up lots of votes there I should think.

[ChipButty]

I'll drink to that

[RotBenz8888]

12 hours ago, KittenKong said:

Makhu Bucha day reminds me of when the martial law curfew was in place a few years ago: no bars, no noise, no drunks, no traffic. All rather nice and civilised really.

So unlike Thailand