Vesak Day in Burma: Watering Fest

Art Winn, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly Wikipedia edit; Berkeley Buddhist Monastery

Buddhists pour water on bodhi trees on the full moon day of Kason (Aung Myint Htwe/wiki)

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In Burma (what the military dictatorship now calls Myanmar) Vesak -- the blessed day of the Buddha's birth, great enlightenment, and passing into final nirvana -- is known as the Full Moon Day of Kason (ကဆုန်လပြည့် ဗုဒ္ဓနေ့), which is the second month in the traditional Burmese calendar [30].

The date is a public holiday. Buddhist devotees typically celebrate by offering alms to Buddhist monastics, adhering to a more stringent set of Eight Precepts, practicing meditation, and freeing fish and birds from captivity out of mercy for all living being [31].

Throughout the country, the date is also marked by a traditional festival called the Nyaungye-thun or "Bodhi Tree Water Pouring Festival" (ညောင်ရေသွန်းပွဲ [my]).

Vesak lanterns set aloft (BBC/Getty Images)

This is when devotees visit pagodas and monasteries (kyaung) to pour perfumed water on sacred bodhi trees using clay pots [32] to ensure the trees -- which hold great significance in Buddhism as the kind the wandering ascetic Siddhartha awakened under -- survive during the peak of summer [31, 33, 34].

This tradition dates back to the pre-colonial era and continues to take place at major shrines such as the Shwekyetyet Pagoda and Shwekyetkya Pagoda in the former royal capital of Amarapura [30].

Konbaung-era court poet Letwe Thondara composed a complete set of yadu poems describing this festival on Meza Hill, near Katha, where he had been exiled by King Hsinbyushin [30]. More

Mahayana Vesak: The Buddha's Birthday

(DharmaRealmLive, May 23, 2021) Berkeley Buddhist Monastery is hosting a Mahayana Vesak, Shakyamuni Buddha's Birthday Ceremony, streaming on YouTube and through Zoom. In this ceremony, the Baby Buddha is bathed as devotees reflect on purifying their own Buddha Nature or potential for supreme enlightenment. This is a chance to renew ourselves. For more info, visit berkeleymonastery.org.