Buddhists across Sri Lanka are observing Esala Full Moon Poya Day on Wednesday (July 29), one of the most significant dates in the Buddhist calendar.
The day commemorates several events in the life of the Buddha and in the early history of Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, Esala Poya marks the conception of Prince Siddhartha in the womb of Queen Mahamaya, Ada Derana reported.
It also commemorates the Buddha’s first sermon, the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta — the Turning of the Wheel of Dhamma — delivered seven weeks after he attained Enlightenment. The discourse was preached at the Deer Park in Isipathana, near Benares in present-day Varanasi, to the five ascetics Ven. Kondanna, Vappa, Bhaddiya, Mahanama and Assaji. In it the Buddha set out the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path, laying the doctrinal foundation for the spread of Buddhism.
Esala Poya also marks the start of the annual Vas, or rains retreat, during which Buddhist monks remain within their temples for three months and devote themselves to meditation and religious practice. In villages across the country, lay devotees invite monks to observe Vas for the season ahead.
Devotees are expected to visit temples through the day to observe Sil, offer alms, take part in religious observances and listen to Dhamma sermons.
At the historic Kelaniya Raja Maha Vihara, a programme running from dawn saw the temple’s Viharadhikari, Dr. Deniyaye Panyaloka Buddharakkhita Thera, administer the eight precepts to assembled devotees, followed by a morning sermon from Kotmale Kumarakasyapa Thera and a Dhamma discussion. After the midday Buddha pooja, alms were offered to 1,000 monks in a purpose-built hall more than 300 metres long, and the temple’s stupa was illuminated in six colours after dark.
The Kelaniya programme was organised by the Hiru Media Network and sponsored by its chairman, Rayynor Silva, who switched on the illumination. Hiru News, part of the same network, described the almsgiving — held for a second consecutive year — as the largest in the country’s history. The claim could not be independently verified.
An International Dhamma Programme is also scheduled to mark the day, with an online Dhamma talk to be conducted via Zoom from 6.00 p.m. to 7.30 p.m. Sri Lanka time and open to participants worldwide, Daily Mirror reported.
Poya days are public holidays in Sri Lanka. Shops and businesses generally close, and the sale of alcohol and meat is restricted.
The Esala season is also associated with some of the island’s largest religious pageants, among them the Kandy Esala Perahera and the annual Esala procession at the Devinuwara Uthpalawanna Sri Vishnu Maha Devalaya in the south.
