THE Shwedagon Pagoda holds twelve monthly festivals every year, and the Maha Sa­maya Day will be celebrated on the full moon day of Nay­on (10 June) this year at the Shwedagon Pagoda.

“As usual, the annual Maha Samaya Day ceremo­ny will be organized by the Shwedagon Pagoda Board of Trustees at 5:00 am. The early morning alms will be offered to the Shwedagon Pagoda at 6:00 am. Afterwards, Sayad­aws led by the Shwedagon Pagoda Ovadacariya Sayad­aw will be offered alms and other offerings. At 6:30 am, alms will be offered to the monks led by the Shwedagon Pagoda Ovadacariya Sayadaw at the Ancient Buddha stat­ues on the Shwedagon Pagoda grounds, where a sermon will be given on the Maha Samaya Day. After the ceremonial pro­cedures, they shared merits,” said U Bo Thin, a member of the Shwedagon Pagoda Board of Trustees.

At the ceremony, at 7:00 am, Buddhist religious groups and staff, divided into two groups, worship the pagoda by going around it in a clockwise procession and reciting the Maha Samaya Sutta. Then, the participants will recite the Maha Samaya Sutta at the Chanthagyi prayer hall. — ASH/MKKS