Desk Report:
Chittagong sky turns colorful during Lantern Festival
The sky is ablaze with the light of lanterns. Colorful lanterns are flying in the sky spreading the message of non-violence and good fortune. It is like a procession of light – a festival of light. The light of the full moon of Ashwin and the light of the lanterns are one.
On the occasion of the second largest religious festival of the Buddhist community, Probarana Purnima, lanterns were flown from the Buddhist temple in Nandankanan in Chittagong city this Monday evening. Thousands of people gathered at the temple since the afternoon. A huge crowd formed since the evening. In the meantime, the joyous event of flying the lanterns began. The sky was filled with lanterns.
Every year, the lanterns flown from the Nandankanan Buddhist temple carry messages about world peace, non-communalism, harmony, and the latest situations and events in the country and abroad. This year’s lanterns have highlighted various messages of non-violence and Margarita.
Apart from various religious rituals throughout the day, Buddhists of all ages and professions are participating in the lantern festival in the evening at Buddhist monasteries. They have gathered at the temple to join the evening festival.
In this regard, Dr. Jinbodhi Bhikkhu, former professor of the Pali Department of Chittagong University (CU), said, “Two and a half thousand years ago, Siddhartha Gautama’s hair was cut off and floated in water during the test of attaining Buddhahood. Gautama said that if he truly attained enlightenment, his hair would not go under water but would go to heaven. That actually happened. Lanterns are flown on the full moon day of Ashwini to commemorate the journey of that hair to heaven. Through this, we celebrate the festival of non-violence, goodness, self-purification and the rejection of evil.’
Meanwhile, Subo Barua, president of Buddhist youth organization ‘Samyak’, said, ‘71 Buddhist organizations from different areas of Chittagong have joined the Prabarana Lantern Festival at Nandankanan. Out of these, about 45 organizations are flying more than five hundred lanterns. Subal Barua, who joined the festival, said, ‘Like every year, Prabarana Purnima is being celebrated through multidimensionality. We have made friendship, harmony and non-communalism the main mantra of this festival.’
