Buddhist Festivals: Vesak, Asahla, Pavarna, Kathina, Magha Puja

L I F E S T Y L E 렁 F E S T I V A L S

Introduction

Festivals are days set aside for celebration; usually commemorating an anniversary or some significant event. In a religious context these are holy days and the day is often dedicated to participation in or a contemplation of the various traditional themes occuring with each festival. As the day is given over to matters holy we have the term 'holiday'.
Buddhist festivals are a time of joy; creating an opportunity for people to meet together. As the occasion has religious significance it is also a special opportunity for people to reflect on their religious commitment. If possible lay people would visit a monastery or gather at the nearest Buddhist centre. This fosters contact between lay people and the ordained monastics.

The Buddhist calendar is a lunar one and most festivals are celebrated on the full moon day. In the West this is often adjusted to a weekend date so more people are able to participate. The festivals discussed in this section are common to most Buddhist traditions although often the dates will vary according to the different schools. Discussion here is relative to the Ajahn Chah lineage although this will be quite similar for most Theravada schools.
Most festival days in the monastery are structured around making offerings. Lay people will ordinarily offer a meal to the sangha in the morning and this is responded to by the sangha offering various blessings. There may also be an offering by the lay people of various general requisites to the sangha. Quite often on these days a senior member of the sangha will give a formal talk on Buddhist teachings and there will be other opportunities for sangha and lay people to meet and share various aspects of life-meditation-religion etc.