BATHING OF THE BUDDHA RITUAL

Legend has it that at Prince Siddhartha’s birth, when he was born at Lumbini garden, the baby Prince immediately walked seven steps, at each of which a lotus flower sprang from beneath his feet. He pointed one hand towards the sky and the other towards the ground and he said “Heaven above and earth beneath, I am the Honoured One, the One who liberates all who suffer in the Three Realms”. The word “I” here stands for the intrinsic undefiled buddha-nature, which exists in every living being. Thereafter, the nine heavenly dragons appeared and emitted the purest water to cleanse the newly born Prince. According to the ancient stories, the ritual of bathing the Buddha is conducted every year, on 8th day of the fourth lunar month calendar, it became a tradition of bathe the statue of a little Buddha to commemorate his birth.
During the ceremony of Buddha bathing, people fold their palms and bow to Buddha statue, then pick up and fill the ladle with water, people carefully pour water over a statue of the little Buddha. This ritual highlights a universal message that let’s cleanse our ‘inner dirt’ of greed, hatred and ignorance so as to allow the generosity, compassion and wisdom within us to shine forth.
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BATHING OF THE BUDDHA RITUAL
BATHING OF THE BUDDHA RITUAL
BATHING OF THE BUDDHA RITUAL
BATHING OF THE BUDDHA RITUAL
BATHING OF THE BUDDHA RITUAL
BATHING OF THE BUDDHA RITUAL
BATHING OF THE BUDDHA RITUAL
BATHING OF THE BUDDHA RITUAL