PRESIDENT TO ATTEND WAISAK DAY CELEBRATION

Yogyakarta, May 9 (ANTARA) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's presence is expected at an event marking Waisak Day , the start of the 2553rd year of the Buddhist Era (BE) at the Borobudur Temple in Central Java on Saturday evening.

The celebration of the advent of the Year of the Ox will begin at 8 p.m. local time, Saturday night, with a "Trail of Civilization" dance drama highlighting Buddha's messages.

The head of state and First Lady Ani Yudhoyono are expected to arrive at Adisucipto Air Force base in Yogyakarta by a presidential plane at 1 p.m. local time on Saturday.

A series of activities celebrating Waisak have been started since Thursday (May 7) with a ritual procession of sacred water at Mendut Temple in Magelang.

The sacred water was taken from Temanggung, Central Java, which is around three hours by car from Mendut Temple.

On May 8, Indonesian Buddhists conducted another ritual procession of taking a natural flame from Mrapen, Grobogan, Purwodadi (Central Java) to Mendut Temple.

Chairperson of the Indonesian Buddhist Association (Walubi) Sri Hartati Murdaya followed the whole processions and is scheduled to officially launch the peak ceremony at Borobudur Temple, which will be attended also by President Yudhoyono on Saturday evening.

Central Java Representative of Indonesian Buddhist Community (Walubi) David Hermanjaya said recently that the observance of Waisak Day to mark Buddha's birth, enlightenment, and death, would be conducted at Lumbini Park, located at the eastern foot of Borobudur temple.

The Buddhist community, as well as hundreds of monks from across Indonesia and other countris h as Thailand, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Singapore will attend the ceremony.

Three major historical events are usually celebrated on Waisak.
The first is the birth of Siddhartha Gautama, the second is the acceptance of the divine revelation under the Bodhi tree, and the third is the journey of Siddhartha Gautama to heaven.

These three big events occur exactly on the Full Moon Purnama Sidhi. It is very common for Buddhists to celebrate Waisak with the presentation of fruit, flowers and candles. For Buddhists, candles symbolize their philosophy of life, the sought-after enlightenment.

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