• Win
• | May 15, 2020
• | Traditional Festivals
• | No Comments

Kason Festival-Witness the Special Customs of Myanmar

Myanmar, people celebrate festivals every month according to the Myanmar calendar. All the festivals have each meaning, and people in Myanmar treasure them. All twelve festivals are related to Buddhism and, Kason Bodhi Watering Festival is one of them, as well.

Kason is the second month of the Myanmar Calendar. It usually falls in May, and in Myanmar, May is the mid-summer period. Therefore, water in the ponds, creeks, and rivers get lesser. It is also the time when Sagar, the seasonal flower of Kason, blooms. Kason is a religious month, and the full moon day of Kason is an exceptional day for all Buddhists.

The full moon day of Kason marks four significant events in the life story of Gautama Buddha. The first one is on this day back in one of the previous lives of the Buddha, the Dipankaya Buddha gave the hermit Thumayda a divine prophecy that the hermit will become the Gautama Buddha in the future. The second one is that this is the day whereupon Prince Siddhartha was born, and the third one being the day whereupon the prince became enlightened and thus became the Gautama Buddha, and the last one is that the full moon day of Kason was when the Gautama Buddha entered Maha Parinivirna. Owing to these symbolic events, the full moon day of Kason is a memorable and auspicious day to all the Buddhists.

In the life story of the Buddha, the Bodhi tree, Banyan Tree, was figurative as it is the tree under which the Buddha attained wisdom and enlightenment. Therefore, since then, it has become respectable and Buddhists worship the Bodhi tree regarding the tree as a Paribawga Sedi. In every pagoda in Myanmar, whether it is in the cities or in the villages, there is at least one Bodhi Tree in the pagoda compound. As Kason is the month when the water reaches the lowest level, on the full moon day of Kason, Buddhists water the Bodhi tree with the intention to make sure the tree would not die of drought. On this day, people carry the pot with scented water and flowers and pour them to the Bodhi tree and pay respect to the Buddha. This has been a tradition and has been practicing for a long time in Myanmar.

On this day, aside from the watering ceremony, many Buddhists perform various kinds of meritorious deeds. They take Sabbath, meditate, and offer the Buddha flowers and incense. At the pagoda, where the watering ceremony takes place, some people offer the pilgrims snacks, juice and so on which we call in Myanmar, Satudithar. It is also one of the beautiful customs of Myanmar people.

The full moon day of Kason, the Buddha day is an essential and meaningful day to all the Buddhists, which reminds them to remember the words of the Buddha and practice them. This event has celebrated in succession every year, and it shows the sincerity of the Buddhists to the Buddha. Besides, it includes one of the attractiveness of Myanmar and its culture. Thus, those who wish to witness the beautiful religious customs of Buddhists should make their stop in Myanmar around this meaningful Buddha day.