Buddha Purnima being celebrated today

Desk Report: Members of the Buddhist community are celebrating their most sacred festival Buddha Purnima in the country today with solemn devotion and traditional enthusiasm.

The festival marks Gautama Buddha's birth, enlightenment and death. It falls on the full moon day in May.

The day is a public holiday.

On this day in 563 BC, Buddha was born as Siddhartha Gautama in Kopilabostu at the foothill of the Himalayas.

He attained supreme enlightenment at the age of 35 and finally departed into “nirvana” at 80.

Buddhist organisations have drawn up various programmes to celebrate the day.

Bangladesh Bouddha Sangskritik Parishad will bring out a rally from in front of the National Museum in the city around 8:00am. Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury is expected to join the programme as the chief guest.

Meanwhile, President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina issued messages yesterday, greeting the Buddhist community on the occasion.

The president in his message said, “Gautama Buddha preached about equality and harmony throughout his life to build a peaceful world.”

He also hoped the Buddhist community would continue their efforts to develop the country.

In her message, Hasina expressed optimism that the Buddhist community would play an effective role in building Bangladesh as a humanitarian, peaceful and prosperous country.


risingbd/Dhaka/May 10, 2017/Nasim