The Vesak Day festivities began a day earlier at the Sri Lankaramaya Temple (SLT), run by the Singapore Sinhala Buddhist Association, where around 300 devotees, clad in hues of white, gathered at the sacred Bodhi tree shrine in the temple’s compound on May 30.
Among them were Mr Sachith Dardhana, 41, an IT professional, who relocated from Sri Lanka to Singapore four years ago with his wife and two sons. He shared that back home, Vesak Day is celebrated over two public holidays: the primary Poya Day and the day after.
Poya, which translates to “full moon day”, is observed every lunar cycle as a Buddhist public holiday in Sri Lanka. As such, Vesak Day typically falls on the first full moon of the traditional lunar month of Vesakha, which was observed on May 1 internationally.
“However, Sri Lanka chose to observe it at the end of month,” said SLT’s honorary secretary, Mdm Ranjini De Silva, 72. This aligns with the second full moon of the month due to an extended lunar cycle this year, also followed by Singapore and several other countries.
Mdm Ranjini added that SLT, in line with Sri Lankan tradition, usually begins its celebrations a day earlier to coincide with the actual onset of the full moon phase, which fell on May 30 this year.
On this occasion, Mr Sachith visited the temple alongside several members of his extended family. This included his older brother, Mr Nuwan Weerasinghe, 46, who brought his wife and son, as well as a family friend, Mr GRTS Gunathunga, 35, a medical professional.
“In Sri Lanka, it’s a week-long celebration, and you can see processions or peraheras, which include cultural performances and elephant dances,” said Mr Nuwan, who moved to Singapore 10 years ago and currently works in the tech industry.
It’s also customary for children to craft lanterns made out of bamboo sticks and paper sheets, decorated with Buddhist symbols. These lanterns were dotted throughout the temple grounds, which created a festive yet tranquil atmosphere as the sun began to set.
The two brothers and their families, like most devotees at SLT, were dressed in white, to symbolise purity and a renunciation of worldly luxuries, as per Buddhist practice.
Temple volunteers handed out freshly-cut stalks of lotus flowers to the attendees as the saffron-and-maroon-robed monks led the prayers with chants in the Pali language, which originated from the ancient kingdom of Magadha and is central to Theravada Buddhism.
Devotees then circled the Bodhi tree, pausing to pray in front of a golden, sculptured image of Lord Buddha, before placing their lotus stalks and flower-adorned trays of tea lights at the shrines situated at the four corners of the sanctum.
Afterward, they proceeded to SLT’s cultural hall for a series of presentations.
This included an inaugural global livestream session with temples based in France, Sri Lanka, India, Malaysia, the United Kingdom and the United States. The devotees from across the different time zones chanted together, united by the spirit of Vesak.
The Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Singapore H. E. Senarath Dissanayake graced the event as its guest-of-honour.
In times of political uncertainty, a global prayer to “free all living beings from suffering” felt pertinent, noted Bhante (Venerable) Dr Gunaratana, 72, SLT’s religious adviser and vice-chairman of Whampoa’s Racial and Religious Harmony Circle.
Dr Gunaratana is officially part of the Mahakaruna Buddhist Society, but moved from Sri Lanka to Singapore in 1986 to serve the temple and oversee its social and welfare activities at the request of its then founders.
He works full-time for Willing Hearts, a local non-profit charity, which partners with SLT and devotees to distribute weekly donations in the form of groceries and essential supplies, which rounded out the event on a note of community service.
He told tabla! that Vesak Day is less about rituals and more about thanksgiving.
“Buddha sat at the Bodhi tree and through meditation, was able to recall his past 500 births. It revealed that the same mother and father had looked after him life after life,” Dr Gunaratana said. “It’s not to worship the tree. It’s to worship your parents and those who look after you.”
