This year, Buddhist devotees will once again commemorate Vesak while being confined to the home which will
give them the opportunity to engage positively in following religious observances. Engaging in loud, colourful cultural festivities is not in keeping with the dignified austerity of the Buddhist Teachings, a trend that needs to be urgently discouraged.
Sri Lanka is recognized as the repository of Buddhism in its most pristine state with the tradition of Theravada having come down directly from the Gautama Buddha and his earliest disciples. As Vesak, commemorates the three most significant events in the Life of the Gautama Buddha, it is imperative that it is celebrated with dignity with emphasis on spiritual significance.
"Vesak thus had been most important event in Sri Lanka’s cultural calendar throughout history and had been celebrated from the King downwards to the simplest peasant. Offering flowers on Vesak day to the Buddha has its significance as it expresses impermanence"
It was on a Full Moon Day in 563 BCE that Queen Mahamaya, following custom left Kapilavasthu in a royal procession to her parental kingdom of Devadaha to give birth to her first child when halfway at Lumbini, the celebrated nativity of prince Siddhartha took place in a grove beneath a sal tree. It was also on a Vesak Full Moon Day 2610 years ago that Prince Siddhartha reached supreme achievement comprehending the “Four Noble Truths.” The Buddha discovered that the mastering of the Truth was the way to achieve Nirvana - a state of supreme liberation. And after 45 years of Teaching and having reached 80 years, He left for Kusinara and passed away under twin sala trees.
Vesak thus had been most important event in Sri Lanka’s cultural calendar throughout history and had been celebrated from the King downwards to the simplest peasant. Offering flowers on Vesak day to the Buddha has its significance as it expresses impermanence. Dispelling darkness or ignorance through the light of His Teachings is symbolic of lighting a “pol thel pahana” on Vesak night. This was the aloka pooja that led to Vesak illuminations.
The first recorded reference in the Mahavamsa of a Vesak Festival held in Sri Lanka was during the reign of King Dutugamunu. It states that the King celebrated Vesak every year during his twenty four year reign, lighting thousand oil lamps in honour of the Buddha. He had lit them at twelve places providing oil for every temple to light lamps, eight times in the month of Vesak.
"It was also on a Vesak Full Moon Day 2610 years ago that Prince Siddhartha reached supreme achievement comprehending the “Four Noble Truths.” The Buddha discovered that the mastering of the Truth was the way to achieve Nirvana - a state of supreme liberation"
Gamini G. Punchihewa, a product of the University of Ceylon, Peradeniya, a former civil servant who had held multiple administrative posts and author on an essay on “Religious and Royal functions” which centred round Vesak, states that the second crowning of King Devanampiyatissa in the 4th century BCE occurred on a Vesak Full Moon Day. Quoting from Mahavamsa he writes that Devanampiyatissa after being crowned sent envoys to his beloved friend Emperor Asoka with gifts who welcomed them and sent back gifts to the Lankan king. The envoys returned on the 12th day of the Vesak month with a message from the Emperor that he would like the Lankan king to have a second coronation. In deference to the Emperor’s request, the second coronation took place on a Vesak Day.
Punchihewa who quotes Dr. Ananda Guruge’s translation of the Mahavamsa says the Ministers from the Lankan Royal Court were guests of the Emperor and after five months, left Jumbudveepa on the first day of the bright half of the month of Vesak and arrived at Jambukola.
"The second crowning of King Devanampiyatissa in the 4th century BCE occurred on a Vesak Full Moon Day"
Once again going back to Mahavamsa, Punchihewa says that the laying of the foundation stone for the construction of the Maha Thupa – the famed Ruwanveliseya dagoba in Anuradhapura took place on a Vesak day. “When the recourses were thus obtained, he (King Dutugamunu) commenced the work of the Maha Thupa as the Visakha constellation appeared on the full moon day of Vesak. Having got the pillar removed the ruler of the earth had the site of the Thupa dug to a breadth of seven cubits …… “
King Bhatikabhaya during the Anuradhapura era, being a devout Buddhist, dedicating himself to celebrating Vesak on a grand scale, constructed two terraces and an Uposatha Hall at Thuparamaya. Mahavamsa writes: He had the plaster work of the Great Thupa done with a hundred cart loads of pearls, ground with oil. He had it covered with a net of coral stones with lotuses of gold and clusters of pearls. With a distinct penchant for ceremonies, he had various religious ceremonies including a plastering ceremony (Sudharmangala) every year in honour of the Great Bodhi Tree, twenty eight major Vesak festivals and 84,000 minor festivals. Thrice a day, he participated in worshipping sacred places and offered alms to the Sangha on days of festivals and other ceremonies.”
Punchihewa, quoting the Great Chronicle writes that King Parakrama Bahu I of the 13th century besides being a dynamic tank builder, fostered religious festivals on Vesak Full Moon Days. “While the Monarch accomplished a series of such wonderful tasks as had never been seen or heard before, he celebrated the high festivals in a manner befitting his royal position. With the war over he brought two relics to the Temple of the Tooth Relic and for seven nights, he celebrated festivals of lamps. He built a building in the middle of the city of Polonnaruwa to consecrate the Sacred Tooth Relic and a Mandapa around it. This event turned into a religious festival.”
This festival which may have coincided with Vesak is described in the Chulavamsa thus. “He filled the town with fragrance and delighted the crowd of people with all kinds of flowers, incense and varied fragrances. With the light of thousands of oil lamps, he transformed the heavenly areas into pure glory.”
