Wisakha Bucha Day

The Three Most Important holy days of the year for Thai  Buddhists all include the word  Bucha , which means to pay  homage. Asaraha Bucha commemorates the day the Lord  Buddha preached his first sermon.

 

Makha Bucha marks both the occasion when 1,350 of the Buddha 146’s disciples (monks) gathered without prior notice and listened to the Buddha  elaborate some of his most important teachings in a sermon, as well as the day he foresaw his own death and attainment of Nibbana (Nirvana).

 

But the most auspicious of the three is   Visakha Bucha, which simultaneously commemorates three important anniversaries in the life of Siddharta Gautama, the Lord Buudha: his birth, his enlightenment, and his death.

 

The word Visakabucha stands for Visakapoonnameebucha which implies the worship of his Lord Buddha in the middle of the 6th lunar month. Buddhist regard this day as the Lord Buddha’s recalling Day. The Lord Buddha passed from his life exactly 80 years from the day of his birth.

 

On that day, 2543 years ago (543 years before the birth of Christ), when the count of the Buddhist Era (BE) began, the Buddha achieved the ultimate goal of merging his enlightenment with Nirvana, freeing himself forever from the eternal cycle of death and reincarnation which is the fate of lesser mortals.

 

Common activities Buddhist do today fall on merit making: offering food to priest in morning time; behaving themselves according to Buddhism’s Five Percepts, etc. Some of them make a visit to temple to attend the sermon or practice the meditation while some set birds and fish free. And after sunset, the candle lit procession is usually done clockwise around each temple’s church. 

 

On this occasion, a grand religious ceremony is also held at Phuttha Monthon in Nakhon Pathom Province where the statue of the Walking Buddha is located. Here the candle lit procession is usually led by a royal family member. Buddhists from nearby and other provinces can come to take part in the procession.

 

Above all and in conclusion, the most significant and main aim of all the activities in Visakabucha is for mind purification hence the Buddhist can live their lives peacefully.