Thailand: Buddhists Celebrate Makha Bucha Day
2018.03.01
Bangkok and Narathiwat, Thailand
Thai Buddhists in the Deep South and elsewhere on Thursday marked Makha Bucha day celebrating when the Buddha delivered a sermon more than two millennia ago.
Disciples offered alms, prayed, and meditated during the day before concluding with candlelight processions after sunset. Some held flowers and incense as they walked three times clockwise around the ordination hall.
In Bangkok, many Buddhists came to Wat Saket, a temple where a huge “Golden Mountain pagoda” is built into a hill.
For security reasons, local people, military and police performed religious rites during the day at Urai Rattanaram temple in Narathiwat’s Bacho district, one of the 37 Deep South districts.
More than 2,500 years ago in India’s Bihar City, 1,250 Buddhist monks ordained by the Lord Buddha spontaneously gathered to hear the Buddha’s sermon on the first full moon of the third lunar month.
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