Myanmar people celebrate traditional Thadingyut lighting festival

www.chinaview.cn 2009-10-04 19:12:1
YANGON, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Roadside stalls were filled with various kinds of candles, electric lighting, paper lantern, fireworks on sale and shopping centers were offering discounts on items such as foodstuff, clothing and gifts.
With streets lit with electric lighting and residential doors and windows with colorful bulbs and lanterns hanging on, Myanmar people have been celebrating the Thadingyut Full Moon Day Lighting Festival at a grand scale for a series of three days in the biggest city of Yangon since Friday.
According to Myanmar people's belief since ages, the festival is so held in a form that people light their candles and colorful paper lanterns at homes across the country to celebrate the descend of Lord Buddha back to earth after the Buddha paid gratitude to his mother for giving birth to him.
During the festival, younger people paid homage to their parents, teachers and elders and asked for pardon for whatever misdeeds in speech, thought and act they might have committed during the past year and in return the elders extend to them loving-kindness and forgiveness.
As part of the celebration, family members, especially youngsters and kids in groups, visited the zoo, gardens and parks where special provisional bazaars were erected introducing sale promotion and entertainment programs for them.
The fall of the Thadingyut lighting festival is also a festival which marks the end of three months' Buddhist lent and couples used to hold their marriage function then.
At this time, wedding dress shops, photo studios, furniture shops and model agencies also organize bridal shows at hotels filled with attractive and smiling couples.
All the pagodas like Shwedagon, Botataung, Sule were also crowded with pilgrims and the voice of monks reciting Buddha's teachings filled the sky which bring peace to the earth.
The entire platform of the Shwe Dagon Pagoda was illuminated with 9,000 oil lamps and perfume sticks.
Meanwhile, the Uppatasanti pagoda in the new capital of Nay PyiTaw is being packed with Buddhish devotes and pilgrims on the full moon day and was also offered with 9,000 oil lamps. Other places such as, zoological garden, and fountain garden were also crowded with people.