Celebrating Vesak through Amisa Pooja

by Ganga RATNAYAKE

Yesterday marked the Vesak Full Moon Poya day and today is the day following the Vesak Poya day. Apart from performing the religious rituals associated with a poya day, Vesak is celebrated throughout the country with the emphasis on Amisa pooja.

Dansals are set up in most cities to generously serve local food and beverages free where the noble cause of alms-giving is practised widely. The festival gains an added dimension at night with thoran (pandols), Vesak lanterns, Buddhist flags, festoons and dazzling illuminations where the aloka pooja or offering of light to the Buddha is practised.

Vesak Poya is important to Buddhists across the world as three most significant events of the Buddha’s life occurred on a Vesak Full Moon Poya day. They are the birth of Prince Siddhartha Gautama, the Enlightenment of ascetic Siddhartha Gautama and the Parinibbana (Passing Away) of Gautama Buddha.

This year’s Vesak Poya is special as it also marks the end of the Sambuddhatva Jayanthi, the 2600th anniversary of ascetic Siddhartha attaining the supreme state of Enlightenment. The 2600th Sambuddhatva Jayanthi was commemorated from May 17, 2011 to May 5, 2012.

Alms-giving

Vesak is a time which highlights the importance of Amisa Pooja, which is when one practises dana (charity), making offerings to the Buddha in various ways including alms-giving. Prathipaththi pooja on the other hand is when one practises Dhamma through seela (morality) and bhavana (meditation). Sometimes the two types of poojas are practised hand in hand.

The number of alms-givings increases significantly throughout the country during the Vesak festival. Dansals are funded by benevolent donors and many family and friends support the cause voluntarily. Dansals serve the most aromatic and delectable foods including rice, fresh fruits, desserts and noodles. Some serve beverages such as kola kenda (herbal porridge), fruit juice, herbal drinks as well as tea and coffee.

As the food and beverages are free, anyone can equally enjoy them. A respite at a dansala feels like a heavenly bliss after hours of sightseeing during the festival days. Sightseeing during the Vesak festival is a must as the big cities, suburban towns and even the countryside all get a fascinating makeover with striking Vesak decorations.

To build imposing creations such as Vesak thoran (pandols), the support and team effort of dozens including skilled artisans and electricians are needed. A pandol displays a story from the Buddha’s life, a Jataka tale or historical events of the country. The structure is usually over 20 feet in height and is a composite of many panels.

Each panel contains a life-like painting of a scene. And each scene portrays an incident from the story. The panels are surrounded by hundreds and thousands of bulbs - incandescent or LED – that need to be embedded and wired into the structure meticulously.

When illuminated, the bulbs turn on and off to a rhythm and pattern displaying breathtaking motifs, one after the other. The story depicted by the pandol is usually recited as a poem, while the scenes are voice-acted by two or more persons from behind the pandol. Nowadays technology is used more often and digital sound effects are added to make the story more interesting and animated. Through great collaboration, comprehensive planning and implementation, meticulous planning and toiling as well as creativity and innovation, pandols have become even more fascinating over time.

Festival season

The pandol depicting the Vidura Jataka has been put up by the youth of Kopparawatte, Matara for the 18th time Pic : Sampath Manamperi

A Vesak lantern is one of the oldest and most popular Vesak decorations. During the festive season they can be spotted in all Buddhist households. Its basic shape is octagonal (atapattam) and sometimes it carries four or more offspring (miniature clones).

The atapattam lantern’s frame is made of bamboo stalks and the joints are tied with twine and covered with tissue paper. The long wavy frills are also cut out from colourful tissue paper and they adorn the sides and the bottom of the lantern. Nowadays there are ready-made reusable lanterns made of plastic which can be easily fixed and decorated.

Apart from the basic atapattam shape, there are lanterns with lotus, star and diamond shapes among others. The size of lanterns may also vary from two to three feet to one or two storeys high. Some lanterns are hung, some are placed on the ground and others are made to spin automatically.

The best time to see Vesak lanterns and pandols is at night, for when they are illuminated they create an enthralling heavenly atmosphere on earth.

When competitions for selecting the best lanterns are held in major cities, more innovative lantern designs come to light. The lanterns have evolved further and are even made of materials such as crystals, grains, seeds, herbs, coconut leaves and shells, steel, ekel and wood.

There are also massive Vesak lanterns surrounded by hundreds of offspring lanterns built to portray Jataka tales. Figures of the story’s characters are beautifully made and mechanically spun around the lantern. Just like the pandols these special lanterns also draw large crowds, hence you will often find long queues of spectators eagerly waiting to see them.

The Vesak festival is also synonymous with Bhakthi Gee or devotional songs. Clad in pure white both male and female singers would sing the songs to elaborate the great virtues of the Buddha. Bhakthi Gee recitals are organised by schools and institutes as well as various companies and even the Armed Forces and police. Some will put up stages while some others will sit inside a tipper truck and sing while on the move. And the most striking are the decorated and illuminated boats that float on lakes carrying the Bhakthi Gee singers. The mellifluous melodies and voices instantly revitalise the weary minds of listeners.

Morals

In addition, dramas portraying the Jataka tales or the Buddha’s life-story are staged in selected locations. With background music, songs and great acting skills the dramas attract large crowds regularly. As much as being aesthetically pleasing, dramas are an ideal way to enlighten the masses, young and old, about virtues and morals. They often depict the negative effects on a depraved person, showing how they can correct themselves through Dhamma, the teachings of the Buddha.

When making Vesak decorations, especially as the decoration gets larger and larger, one must maintain a great amount of patience. Practising patience is very important to lead a peaceful life. And when one’s work reaches the culmination – the opening of a pandol or reciting Bhakthi Gee – the pleasing sight and sound fills up the mind with positive thoughts and enhances shraddha (reverential conviction).

Vesak commemorates the Vesak Full Moon Poya day to remember the triple significant moments from the life of the Enlightened One. It is also one of those rare times when the Amisa Pooja can be witnessed at its best. Hence there is no better time to set aside all differences – racial, religious, ethnic and cultural – and relish the blissful experience of the splendour of the Vesak festival in total harmony.