Buddhists throughout Thailand making merits on Asarnha Bucha Day

BANGKOK, July 20 (TNA) - More than 2,000 people and 556 public buses in Bangkok on Saturday joined in a government-sponsored campaign, urging Buddhists to refrain from consuming alcoholic drink during the three-month Buddhist Lent which starts early next week. The event was presided over by Minister attached to the Prime Minister’s Office San-ti Prom-phat and hosted by a network of 10 organisations. Participants took an oath that they would stay away from consuming alcoholic drink during the Buddhist Lent which begins next Tuesday. Meanwhile, devout Buddhists have started returning to their native provinces to join their family in performing religious rites to mark Asarnha Bucha Day which falls next Monday this year. Asarnha Bucha Day is the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, coinciding with July 22 this year. It commemorates the day on which the Lord Buddha preached his first sermon called “the Dhammachakapavattana Sutta” to his first five chief disciples more than 2,500 years ago. The Buddha’s first sermon contained four great truths which lead to Nirvana and are the foundational doctrines of Buddhism. The railway station in the northern province of Phichit was packed with travellers early today while tickets are sold out as people leave for their hometown to attend candle-lit processions at temples on Monday evening to mark Asarnha Bucha. In Mae Sai northernmost district, bordering Myanmar, villagers crossed into the border to buy necessities and candles that they will offer as alms to Buddhist monks on the Buddhist Lent Day. A similar scene is also seen in the southern province of Trang as devout Buddhists bought candles to offer to monks at temples to celebrate the significant Buddhist religious days. (TNA)