Village Life - Wesak Koodu (lanterns) Photo and Text by `Siri
Wesak, the full moon day of May is the Buddhist equivalent of Christmas for the Christians. It is on this day that Buddha was born in a park at Lumbini in North India, attained enlightenment at Bodh Gaya, and at the age of 80, passed away into final "Nirvana" at Kushinagara (now Kasia, India), forever free from the cycle of suffering and rebirth. Buddhists the world over celebrate this event in various ways. In Sri Lanka, temples, homes, shops and streets are decorated with home made lanterns adorned with multi-colored lights similar to these as part of the celebrations. The more devout flock to the temples and "vihares" to spend the day in quiet contemplation of the "Dhamma" (the teachings of Buddha.)

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