Thadingyut Festival

The Thadingyut Festival (Burmese: သီတင်းကျွတ်ပွဲတော်), also known as t he Lighting Festival of

Myanmar, is held on t he full moon day of t he Burmese lunar mont h of Thadingyut . As a cust om,
it is held at t he end of t he Buddhist sabbat h (Vassa) and is t he second most popular fest ival in
Myanmar aft er Thingyan Fest ival (New Year Wat er Fest ival). Thadingyut fest ival is t he
celebrat ion t o welcome t he Buddha’s descent from t he heaven aft er he preached t he
Abhidhamma t o his mot her, Maya, who was reborn in t he heaven.[1]
 Thadingyut Festival

သီတင်းကျွတ်ပွဲတော်

Also called Lighting Festival

Observed by Myanmar

Type Buddhist

Date Full moon day of Thadingyut

Related to Vap Full Moon Poya (in Sri Lanka)

Wan Ok Phansa (in Thailand)

Boun Suang Huea (in Laos) Lhabab Duchen (in

Tibet and Bhutan)

Origins

Thadingyut , t he sevent h mont h of t he Myanmar calendar, is t he end of t he Buddhist sabbat h or

Vassa. Thadingyut fest ival last s for t hree days: t he day before t he full moon day, t he full moon
day (when Buddha descends from heaven) and t he day aft er t he full moon day. Buddha's mot her,
Maya, died seven days aft er t he Buddha was born and t hen she was reborn in t he Trayast rimsa
Heaven as a male deva.[2]

In order t o show t he grat it ude for mot herhood, Buddha preached Abhidhamma t o t hat deva who
was his mot her for t hree Lent en mont hs. When he was descending back t o t he mort al world,
Sakra-devanam-indra, t he ruler of t he Trayast rimsa Heaven, ordered all t he saint s and evils t o
make t hree precious st airways.[3] Those st airways were made of gold, silver and ruby. The
Buddha t ook t he middle one wit h t he ruby. The Nat s (Deva) came along by t he right golden
st airways and t he Brahmas from t he left silver st airways.

Celebrations
Buddhist s celebrat e Thadingyut t o welcome t he Buddha and his disciples by enlight ening and
fest ooning t he st reet s, houses and public buildings wit h colored elect ric bulbs or candles, which
represent t hose t hree st airways.[4] During Thadingyut Fest ival, t here are zat pwes (Myanmar
musical plays), free movie shows and st age shows on most of t he st reet s around t he count ry.
There are also a lot of food st alls, which sell a variet y of Myanmar t radit ional foods and shops,
which sell t oys, kit chen ut ensils, and ot her useful st uff on most of t he st reet s. Somet ime
people just walk around in t hose st reet s just for sight seeing and have fun. Some people like t o
play wit h firecrackers and fire balloons.

During t he fest ival days, Buddhist s usually go t o pagodas and monast eries t o pay respect t o t he
monks and offer foods. And some Buddhist s usually fast on t he full moon day. Young people
usually pay respect (gadaw) t o t heir parent s, t eachers, and elderly relat ive and offer t hem some
fruit s and ot her gift s. Also while paying homage t he younger people usually ask for forgiveness
from t he wrong-doings t hey have caused upon t heir parent s or t he ot her elderly relat ives
t hroughout t he year. Tradit ionally t he elders t ell t heir youngst ers t hat t hey forgive any of t heir
wrongdoings and cont inue t o bless t hem wit h good luck and gift some big not es as pocket
money. It is also usual for younger siblings t o pay homage t o t heir older siblings. In ret urn, t he
elder ones wish good luck for t hem and give t hem some pocket money.[5]

Regional traditions

Dawei - Dawei locals hold a thabeik hmyaw pwe (သပိတ်မျှောပွဲ ), in which alms bowls filled wit h
offert ories (e.g., flowers, wat er, oil lamps, candles and joss-st icks) are set adrift at sea t o Shin
Upagut t a.[6]

Shwegyin - Shwegyin locals hold a mi hmyaw pwe (မီးမျှောပွဲ ), in which colorful oil lant erns are
set adrift int o t he Shwegyin River t o Shin Upagut t a.[6] The t radit ion dat es back t o t he
Konbaung dynast y, est ablished in 1851 (BE 1375).[7]

See also

List of Buddhist fest ivals

Gadaw

Wan Ok Phansa, it s equivalent in Thailand

 References

1. "Thadingyut Lighting Festival | Ye Lwin Oo . Com" (http://yelwinoo.com/festivals-events/thadingyut-lighti

ng-festival.html) . Yelwinoo.com. Retrieved 2014-03-05.

2. Shaw, M. (2006). Buddhist Goddesses of India (pp. 45-46).

3. "Chapter115 Buddha Preached Doctrine to His Mother-Fascinating Mural Stories from Dunhuang
Grottoes" (https://web.archive.org/web/20140310105146/http://www.nwp.cn/book/537_26673.shtm
l) . Nwp.cn. Archived from the original (http://www.nwp.cn/book/537_26673.shtml) on 2014-03-10.
Retrieved 2014-03-05.

4. "Full moon day of Thadingyut (Lighting festival)2012 | Myanmar Upper Land" (http://word.myanmarupp
erland.com/tourism-news/full-moon-day-of-thadingyut-lighting-festival2012/) .
Word.myanmarupperland.com. 2012-10-30. Retrieved 2014-03-05.

5. "Thadingyut Festival by Htar Htar Wai | ESL Graduating Class" (https://archive.is/20130627105100/htt

p://elmonteesl.blog.com/2011/12/01/thadingyut-festival-by-htar-htar-wai/) . Elmonteesl.blog.com.
2011-12-01. Archived from the original (http://elmonteesl.blog.com/2011/12/01/thadingyut-festival-by-
htar-htar-wai/) on 2013-06-27. Retrieved 2014-03-05.

6. Maw Maw Aye (2015). "Preservation of Dawei People's Traditional Customs" (http://www.burmalibrary.or
g/docs21/Society%20and%20Culture/Maw-Maw-Aye-2015-Preservation_of_Dawei_People's_Traditional_
Customs-en.pdf) (PDF). University of Yangon.

7. ပိန်းဇလုပ်သိန်းညွန့် (2013-10-22). "ရွှေကျင် သီတင်းကျွတ်မီးမျှောပူဇော်ပွဲ အစဉ်အလာမပျက်ကျင်းပ" (http

s://www.moi.gov.mm/npe/?q=news/22/10/2013/id-7272) . Myanmar News Agency (in Burmese).

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