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Festivals in India
 India, the land of varied cultures and traditions is a
land of festivals and fairs. It is a land of festivity -
religious as well as folkloristic. Whether you go to the
East or the West, North or the South you would be able to
enjoy every month a festival or a fair.
Every day of the year there is a festival celebrated in
some part of the country. Be it cultural or religious, it
gives everyone an opportunity to enjoy and join the
festivity. Festival is the time to rejoice and have fun.
Buddha Jayanti
Celebration
 It is said that one of the greatest spiritual teachers of
mankind the world has ever seen is Gautam Buddha. It is
his teachings and message that has traveled far and wide.
It is believed that the origin and practice of Buddhist
religion dates back to the time when Lord Buddha was born
around 543 BC. Siddhartha, the only son of Shuddhodana,
the King of Kapilavastu is believed to have lived a very
sheltered and protected life till the age of 29.
He was completely ignorant of what miseries and sorrows
were all about. He did not know the tragedies of everyday
life. One day the prince desired to see the city. The King
ordered that the city should be all gay and grand, so that
everywhere his son would meet with only pleasing sights.
He was shocked to see the harsh realities of life when he
viewed an old man, a sick and disabled person and a dead
body for the first time in his life.
The fourth vision was of an ascetic who looked at peace
with himself, which led Siddharth to search for the true
meaning of life, renounce the luxury and worldly pleasures
and look for enlightenment. He wandered to many places and
ultimately attained enlightenment in Bodhgaya under a 'pipal'
tree. Since then he was known as Gautam Buddha or the
'Enlightened One'.
Buddha Purnima or Buddha Jayanti is the birth anniversary
of the Lord Buddha. It is widely celebrated on a full moon
night in Vaisakha (according to the Hindu calendar that
usually falls in April or May). Buddha Purinma is
important festival to Buddhists. Buddha was born in B.C.
560 and died at the age of eighty in B.C. 480. Buddhism
went on to become a very popular religion in the
subsequent centuries and even went abroad.
It was on Buddha Poornima that he attained enlightenment
and ultimately after preaching the five principles of life
and the path of eight-fold truth for long, he attained
'Nirvana' or left the mortal world on this day itself.
Thus, Buddha Jayanti celebrates the three most important
events in Gautam Buddha's life.
Pilgrims from all over the world come to Bodh Gaya in
India to participate in the Buddha Poornima celebrations
that highlight prayer meets, sermons and religious
discourses, recitation of Buddhist scriptures, group
meditation, processions and worship of the statue of
Buddha. |
