Buddha Purnima, the biggest religious festival of the Buddhist community, will be celebrated across the country today with due religious fervour.
The occasion marks three most important events in the life of Lord Buddha — his advent, enlightenment and nirvana, about 2,500 years back.
On this day in 563 BC, Buddha was born as Siddhartha Gautam in Kopilabostu at the foothill of the Himalayas. He attained supreme enlightenment at the age of 35 and finally departed into ‘nirvana’ at the age of 80 in 483 BC.
The Buddhist community will celebrate the occasion in all monasteries and Buddhist religious organisations through a daylong programme.
The programme includes hoisting the national flag and the Buddhist religious flag atop all monasteries, recitation of sacred verses from the Tripitak and breaking of fast by the monks.
Mass prayers, blood donation, ‘sangadana’ (presentation to the monks), discussion, ‘panchashilla’ (prayer) and pradip puja will also be held.
Special prayers will be offered at the monasteries across the country seeking peace, progress and prosperity of the Buddhist community as well as the nation.
President Iajuddin Ahmed and Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed in separate messages greeted members of the Buddhist community on the occasion and announced the day as a public holiday.
In his message, the president said the ideology of Buddha is non-violence and love for the humanity. “Buddha worked relentlessly for a lasting fraternity among all people and wished happiness and welfare of all creatures in the world,” he added.
Iajuddin hoped that all people would work for welfare of the nation from their respective positions.
The president will host a reception for the members of the Buddhist community at Bangabhaban in the afternoon