A Light in the Mind

Vesak Koodu

By Avilash Roul

The beautiful and majestic lanterns add to the pious essence of particular occasions. In Sri Lanka they are called lantons, and where they go the surroundings glow with unfurling colors.

On May 18, 2008 the Sri Lankan Embassy in the Philippines acquired just that pious look when big lantons were hung around the building it was housed in, looking like fire flies from a distance. The Embassy had invited dignitaries, Sri Lanka nationals and other friends of the country to celebrate the Lord Buddha’s birth anniversary. Fortunately, I was there to accompany my colleague, Hemantha, and to join the celebration of Lord Buddha’s 2,552nd birth anniversary in the Embassy.

The day is called Vesak Poya in Sri Lanka or Buddha Purnima or Buddha Jayanti in India. In Thailand, the event is named Visakha Bucha. The religious holiday marks the full moon of the fifth lunar month, and is the day the Lord Gautam Buddha was born, reached enlightenment and died.

On this day monks recite verses uttered by the Buddha twenty-five centuries ago, to invoke peace and happiness for the Government and the people. Buddhists are reminded to live in harmony with people of other faiths and to respect the beliefs of other people as the Buddha has taught. I was engrossed with a couple of chants from revered Monks, who were chanting blessings of the Lord Buddha. One chant was for good amount of rain for better harvests. I am wondering now about the intriguing effects this blessing is facing today. Rainfall has not been similar as it was earlier, with its onset time and duration. Now, the rain is erratic, unexpected and beyond imagination. The greatest wandering Monk, the Lord himself, might today be wondering how this has occurred! Would he be wondering whether this is all due to climate change?

These thoughts reminded me of the day in 2006 when I visited Colombo to Matara to evaluate the ADB-funded Southern Transport Development Project (STDP). The entire Island was decorated with lantons big and small. Interestingly, I also got a glimpse of lantons in five resettlement places in Sri Lanka. The families and the people, who were displaced by the STDP, were also as engrossed in lighting small lantons despite fluctuating electricity. Colourful lanterns called Vesak koodu are hung along streets and in front of homes, and they signify the light of the Buddha, Dhamma and the Sangha.

‘Vesak’ is celebrated as a religious and a cultural festival in Sri Lanka on the full moon of the month of May for a week. Electrically-lit pandols (altar or podium) that illustrate stories from the 550 Jathaka Katha, or the 550 Past Life Stories of the Buddha, are erected in various locations in the Island. Buddhists celebrate this day by observing religious activities observing sila, a human virtue of goodness.

The Vesak Koodu illuminates the values of non-violence, compassion and brotherhood.

That simply means save the world!