THE Buddha Pujaniya festival and alms rice offering ceremony will take place at Myathabeik Pagoda in Thaton Township, Mon State, according to U Soe Myint, Chairman of the Myathabeik Pagoda’s Board of Trustees.
The annual Buddha Pujaniya festival is held on the full moon day of Tabodwe and features a traditional Myanmar Htamane-making competition, a township-wide rice offering ceremony, an oil light-offering ceremony, and a bustling market fair with numerous stalls within the pagoda’s precincts.
“As in previous years, the Buddha Pujaniya festival will include the recitation of the Maha Pathana and an alms rice offering event for invited members of the Sangha. These activities will take place from the full moon day to the third waning day of Tabodwe,” U Soe Myint added.
During the festival, the Buddha’s sermons will be recited on the pagoda’s platform. Additionally, at 5 am on the full moon day, monks will consecrate the pagoda at the mountain summit by offering flowers, candle lights, joss sticks, and 1,000 food offerings.
Following this, donors will offer Htamane, rice, and other food items to over 680 monks from 174 monasteries and more than 70 nuns from 36 nunneries in Thaton Township. This offering will take place at the foot of the mountain, beginning at 7 am.
At 4 pm, food donations for the public will begin, along with the lighting of 9,000 oil lamps along the path leading up to the pagoda. — ASH/MKKS
