Purpose of Vesak Day and 3 Important Buddhist Events

Suara.com – Vesak is a Buddhist religious holiday. This year, Vesak Day falls on June 4, 2023. Vesak Day is also recorded in the 2023 calendar as a National Holiday. So, what is the purpose of Vesak Day? Here is the review.

It is known, Vesak is a religious holiday for Buddhists to celebrate Gautama Buddha or Siddhartha Gautama, the Great Teacher of the 5th century BC. Siddhartha Gautama has the thought that all wealth and luxury does not guarantee happiness.

Once a year, Buddhists will celebrate Vesak Day. So, what is the true purpose of Vesak Day? To find out, see the following explanation quoted from various sources.

Purpose of Vesak Day

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The purpose of celebrating Vesak Day is to commemorate 3 things including commemorating the birth of the Buddha, Buddha achieving perfect enlightenment, and the anniversary of Buddha’s death.

The three events commemorated by Buddhists take place once a year in May according to the Buddhist calendar. This is also used as a life guide for Buddhists.

In addition, the celebration of Vesak Day also has the aim of honoring and contemplating the nature of the Buddha, Dharma, Sangha, and Gautama Buddha’s ancestors who spread the teachings of Buddhism.

On Vesak Day, usually Buddhists will hold a service at the monastery, which tends to be longer in duration than the service on normal days.

Just like in 2022, this year Buddhists will also celebrate Vesak Day at Borobudur Temple, after being canceled in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Even this year it is predicted that the celebration of Vesak Day will be more lively and different from the previous year.

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Generally, there are several series of events that will be held on Vesak Day. The series of events are as follows:

– Collection of blessed water: The event was held for the process of taking blessed water at the Jumprit pennant spring in Temanggung district which was accompanied by a procession of lighting the eternal flame torch.

– Pindapatta: This event is an activity or event for distributing donations such as food, funds, and other necessities to monks. This aims so that every people can do good as well as kindness.

– Meditation: This event is held before the Vesak day celebration

This is a review of the purpose of Vesak Day that you need to know. Hopefully on this Vesak Day, people get a lot of happiness. I hope this information is helpful!

Contributors : Ulil Azmi