Universalis, your very own breviary in pixels...

Tuesday 29 April 2008

Happy Full Moon!

And happy birthday, Gautama Buddha!
(I forgot to get him a Vesakhe present)
From Wiki:
Sometimes informally called "Buddha's birthday," it actually encompasses the birth, enlightenment Nirvana, and passing (Parinirvana) of Gautama Buddha.
[Christianity had the right idea co-opting pagan holidays to spread the joy out over the course of a year, IMO...]
Vesak (Sinhalese) is an annual holiday observed by practicing Buddhists.
In Indian Mahayana Buddhist traditions, the holiday is known by its Sanskrit equivalent, Vaisakha.
The word Vesak itself is the Sinhalese language word for the Pali variation, "Visakha". Vaishākha is the name of the second month of the lunar Hindu calendar.
Vesak is also known as Visakah Puja, Buddha Purnima or Buddha Jayanti in India, Bangladesh and Nepal, Visakha Bucha in Thailand, Phat Đan in Vietnam, Waisak in Indonesia, Vesak (Wesak) in Sri Lanka and Malaysia, [fó dàn] in Chinese-speaking countries, and Saga Dawa in Tibet.
The equivalent festival in Laos is called Vixakha Bouxa and in Myanmar is called Ka-sone-la-pyae meaning Fullmoon Day of Kasone which is also the second month of the Myanmar Calendar.
Vesak is a public holiday in many Asian countries like Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, and also Indonesia, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.

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