Buddha’s birthday (another name for this day is Yufojie,浴佛节) is a Buddhist festival and holiday celebrated in most of East Asia commemorating the birth of the Prince Siddhartha Gautama, later the Gautama Buddha and founder of Buddhism. The Buddha was born into the royal family around 563/480 BCE in Nepal. After six years of ascetic practice, Siddhartha attained full enlightenment at the age of thirty five. As a result he became known as Buddha, or the awakened one. In South and Southeast Asia it is celebrated as Vesak, which places greater emphasis on enlightenment.
To celebrate the day, Buddhist temples bath the Buddha in sacred water to symbolise the moment of Buddha’s birth, when, according to the legend, dragons spat out water to clean the newborn. The statue is of the infant BUddha, whose right forefinger is pointed upwards towards the heavens and left forefinger downwards towards the earth in reference to his birth. show him our devotion and gratitude and to cleanse our own minds.
Buddha’s Birthday falls in 2020 on Thursday, April 30. Mahayana Temple will offer literally bathing the Buddha, reciting sutras,lighting incense, and making offerings to the monks. Please come and join us for the celebration.
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