XTEEN

Magha Puja is an important religious festival celebrated by Buddhists in Thailand,
Cambodia, and Laos on the full moon day of the third lunar month (this usually
falls in February) It is a public holiday in Thailand and Laos - and is an occasion when
Buddhists tend to go to the temple to perform merit-making activities.

Magha Puja day marks the four auspicious occasions, which happened nine months
after the Enlightenment of the Lord Buddha at Veluvana Bamboo Grove, near
Rajagaha in Northern India. On that occasion, four miraculous events coincided;
1) 1,250 enlightened disciples of the Buddha spontaneously gathered
2) every one of those enlightened disciples had been given monastic ordination
personally by the Lord     Buddha
3) those disciples knew to meet together without any previous appointment
4) it was the full-moon day.

The Lord Buddha gave an important teaching to the assembled monks on that
day 2,500 years ago called the 'Ovadapatimokkha' which laid down the principles
by which the monks should spread the Buddhist teachings. In Thailand, this
teaching has been dubbed the 'Heart of Buddhism'.

In the evening, each temple in Thailand holds a candle procession whereby
the monks and congregation members circumambulate the main chapel or
pagoda in the temple in homage to the Lord Buddha. 

In this year 2009, Magha Puja is on 9th February. 

edit @ 1 Feb 2009 16:01:11 by xteenn