Prabarana Purnima today
The Buddhist community across the country will celebrate their second largest religious festival, Prabarana Purnima, today with due solemnity.
The festival, also known as Ashwini Purnima, marks the conclusion of the three-month-long seclusion of monks in monasteries for self-edification and atonement.
The programmes will begin with hoisting of national and religious flags atop all monasteries at dawn and chanting of sacred verses from the Tripitaka. Special prayers will be held in monasteries seeking peace and prosperity for all.
In the evening, the Buddhists will release sky lanterns (fanush) -- one of the main attractions of the festival.
The release of sky lanterns commemorates an event in the life of Buddha, when he once clipped some strands of hair from his head and said that if he were qualified to attain supreme wisdom and enlightenment, the hair would go up instead of falling down. The strands of hair eventually went up.
The main congregations in Dhaka will be held at Dharmarajik Bouddha Bihar, International Bouddha Temple and Kalachandpur Bouddha Bihar among other places.
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