the bathing Buddha Festival is the birthday of Sakyamuni, so it is also called Buddha's birthday. In ancient India, the bathing Buddha Festival is a very important day with a very grand ceremony. So what are the customs of bathing Buddha Festival? This article brings you an introduction to the customs of the bathing Buddha Festival. Let's have a look.
China
Believers will go to the temple to participate in Buddha Bathing, flower offering, fruit offering, monk offering, relic offering, acting and so on.
Some places traditionally invite Buddha statues to parade in the street, place them on elephants, or take floats. The temple will be open for believers to enter incense sticks, worship Buddha statues and provide for monks.
Today's Chinese areas often introduce the habit of celebrating in the world, such as dragon and lion dance, hanging lanterns and even setting off firecrackers.
On the eighth day of the fourth lunar month every year, people in Kangding area, Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province gather at the foot of Mashan mountain and the Bank of zhedo River to hold a Buddha worship Festival and pray for the god Buddha to bless people's grain harvest. Guanyin Temple in Guanyin Mountain, Guangdong solemnly held the 'Buddha Bathing Festival blessing Dharma meeting' to commemorate the Buddha's birthday, the Buddha Bathing ceremony in the morning, the temple tour in the afternoon and release. May this merit be popularized in all, and we and all sentient beings become Buddhism and Taoism together. We hope that through our wills, we can get the blessings of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, so that relatives and friends can be healthy, their homes can be safe, their wealth can be prosperous, and everything goes smoothly.
Taiwan, China
Taiwanese Buddhists generally hold celebrations and Buddha Bathing ceremonies on the eighth day of the fourth lunar month. With the efforts of Buddhists, since 1999, the Ministry of the interior of the Republic of China has officially included the Buddha's birthday anniversary in the national commemoration day. The date is April 8 of the lunar calendar, and relevant organs and organizations hold commemorative activities. As the date is close to 'mother's Day' (the second Sunday in May), some celebrations will also be held on Mother's day.
Hong Kong, China
Hong Kong has large-scale celebrations in Cheung Chau, Lantau and Tuen Mun, such as floating color parade. The "traditional festival tour" organized by the Hong Kong Tourism Board also focuses on promoting Buddha's birthday celebrations.
In 1998, master jueguang successfully won the Buddha's birthday as a holiday for Hong Kong to improve the influence of Buddhist culture and Chinese traditional festivals.
Since 2007, the "Golden Lotus Performance Workshop" has held a grand exhibition of thousands of Buddha's birthday cards in Hong Kong every year. Since May 2013, the first "Buddha's birthday Cultural Festival" in Hong Kong has been planned to last for a whole month to allow the public to participate.
Japan
It is called the Guanxi Buddhist Association (Guanxi Buddhist Association, Guanxi Buddhist Association). It is also known as birthday party, Buddha health meeting, bathing Buddha meeting, Longhua meeting, flower meeting style and flower festival.