Celebrating Vesak then and now
The key events of Prince Siddhartha Gautama’s life were on a Vesak Full Moon in May — His birth, attainment of supreme enlightenment and passing away (mahaparinibbhana). The thrice blessed day is commemorated by Buddhists as a religious and cultural event. Buddhists pay homage to the Buddha by performing amisa pooja (ritualistic offerings) and pratipatthi pooja (practice of the Dhamma), the latter to develop the mind.
Disillusioned and believing in a simple life, Prince Siddhartha left his lay life becoming an ascetic to ‘search for the truth’ and reached Supreme Enlightenment.
In days gone by, village folk observed Vesak in a quiet and pious way. At the break of dawn dressed in pristine white, they gathered at the temple to observe sil, the eight precepts on the instructions of the monk. The day was spent listening to bana (sermons) conducted by the monk or reading dhamma books. They offered the daval danaya (afternoon poojava – offering) at the Viharaya (Temple). A vegetarian meal was brought for them from home. In the afternoon they meditated on Anapanasati, Atti Bhavanawa, Maitrhi Bhavana and Asubha bhavana to develop their minds, forgetting the mundane affairs of their daily life, to achieve an inner spiritual satisfaction.
My grandparents being very pious would always teach us Buddhist values. Every evening we had to go to the shrine room at our home and worship offering flowers and gilanpasa. After this ritual, we had to prostrate ourselves and worship our elders. Then we would sit at our grandparents’ feet to listen to the chanting of Pirith. Grandmother taught us the Anapanasati Bhavanava and Maitri Bhavanawa. Now grandparents have other work such as fetching their grandchildren from school and taking care of them until the parents come after work! In some western countries, children are taught Bhavana (meditation) and parents have found it beneficial for their studies and behaviour.
On Vesak Poya the older children had to observe Ata Sil with grandmother, at the village temple. Back home in the evening, we would light oil lamps, Vesak buckets and atapattam Vesak koodu made by us. The dansala where food is offered to people was organised with the consent of the monk and any passersby would be offered food and drink. Along the road young men fixed stakes on which were kept halved raw papaya and placing wicks they were lit with coconut oil. There were also clay oil lamps stuck on banana tree stumps in an artistic curve. This was the lighting that decorated the village. The homes were lit with vesak koodu, buckets or oil lamps. No electric bulbs were seen. We had to go to the Kandy city to see the only thorana (pandal) lit with a few electric bulbs.
Present day celebrations are highly commercialised with private establishments sponsoring dansal. Large thoranas (pandals) are constructed with thousands of electric bulbs and hundreds of people throng to get a view. Money is collected by young boys who organise dansalas and play loud music to attract the crowds making it more like a musical festival forgetting the meaning of Vesak. They even organise competitions to select the best Vesak koodu (lanterns) stepping away from the meaning of Vesak.
This most sacred Vesak day for Buddhists is a time to reflect on the Buddha’s teachings, and make it a noble and meritorious festival.
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