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The Ploughing Festival: During the half moon in May, two oxen pull a plough painted gold. Following behind them are girls dressed in white scattering rice seeds. This was to celebrate the Buddha's first moment of enlightenment. [3] The Elephant Festival: The Buddha used an example of a wild elephant which is harnessed to a tame one to be trained.
Video Korean Buddhist monks perform ritual dances and music on Buddha's Birthday. Celebrating Vesak also means making special efforts to bring happiness to the unfortunate like the aged, the disabled, and the sick. To this day, Buddhists will distribute gifts in the form of cash, or volunteering in various charitable homes throughout the country.
Visakha Puja or Visakha Uposatha [37] or Vesak ("Buddha Day") is the most sacred Buddhist holiday. It is the anniversary of the Buddha's birth, awakening and parinibbana. [38] Asalha Puja or Asalha Uposatha [39] ("Dhamma Day") is the anniversary of the Buddha's delivering his first discourse, which is collected as the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta.
The Chinese version of this festival is called Laba (臘八) which means the Eighth Day of the La (or the Twelfth) Month of the Chinese Lunar Calendar. It is most often observed in the first half of January, but it may happen on a date between the Winter Solstice (December 22) and the Chinese New Year (between January 22 and February 21).
Many festivals of Nepal are religious festivals involving Buddhism, as are many Burmese traditional festivals. Lunar New Year festivals of Buddhist countries in East, South and Southeast Asia include some aspects of Buddhist culture, however they are considered cultural festivals as opposed to religious ones.
While Buddhism considers the liberation from saṃsāra as the ultimate spiritual goal, in traditional practice, the primary focus of a vast majority of lay Buddhists has been to seek and accumulate merit through good deeds, donations to monks and various Buddhist rituals in order to gain better rebirths rather than nirvana. [156] [157] [note 15]
The Kathin Festival is a traditional Buddhist festival celebrated by villagers in Isan and Laos. Colourful parades and offering ceremonies at the end of monks' retreat at local temples. On Ok Phansa day of the full moon, villagers and city dwellers will go to their local temple for prayers and paying respect to the sacred.
During this Buddhist festival the monks give a sermon about the entire text of the Vessantara Jataka, accompanied by rituals and cultural performances. Because of its central role in the Thet Mahachat or Boun Pha Vet celebrations, the Vessantara Jataka is an important part of the traditional folklore in many areas of the Southeast Asian region.