Magha Puja (redirected from Full Moon Day Maka Buja)

Magha Puja (Maka Buja, Full Moon Day)

March-April; full moon night of third lunar month

This important Buddhist holy day is celebrated in India, Laos (as Makha Bouxa ), and Thailand, where it is a national holiday. The day commemorates the occasion when 1,250 followers ordained by the Buddha arrived by coincidence at Veluvan Monastery in Rajagriha, Bihar, India, to hear him lay down monastic regulations and predict his own death and entry with Nirvana in three months' time. On this day there are sermons in the temples throughout the day, and monks spend the day chanting. The people perform acts of merit-making, such as offering food to monks and freeing captive birds and fish. After sunset, monks lead followers in walking three times around the chapels of monasteries. Each person carries flowers, glowing incense, and a lighted candle in homage to the Buddha. In Laos, the ceremonies are especially colorful at Vientiane and at the Khmer ruins of Wat Ph near Champasak.

SOURCES:
BkHolWrld-1986, Mar 6
EncyRel-1987, vol. 2, p. 551
FolkWrldHol-1999, p. 105
RelHolCal-2004, p. 218