Articles – Page 4 – Buddha Day

April 16, 2020

Kapilavatthu – hometown of Siddhattha Gotama

In the 7th Century BCE, Kapilavatthu was the capital of Sakka (also spelled ‘Sakya’) Kingdom, a small but prosperous principality south of the Himalayas rich in agriculture. The most famous king to have reigned there was King Suddhodana and his consort […]

April 16, 2020

Rājagaha – Ancient Capital of Magadha

In the 7th Century BCE, Rājagaha (modern-day Rajgir) was the old capital city of Magadha Kingdom. During the reign of King Bimbisara, it was one of the largest cities in the world. King Bimbisara was a good administrator and a […]

April 15, 2020

Siddhattha Gotama’s fearless search

Photograph above : View of ‘Pragbodhi’ (today’s Dhongra Hills near Bodhgaya in Bihar), where the Buddha-to-be practised extreme abstinence for almost 6 years. After leaving the household life at the age of 29, Siddhattha Gotama looked for teachers in the […]

April 14, 2020

Meeting Māra on the bank of Nerañjara

Māra the Evil One, feigning sympathy for the Buddha-to-be, came a-visiting at the bank of Nerañjara (located in modern day Bihar) in a futile attempt to dissuade Siddhattha Gotama from pursuing His goal of liberation. After almost six years […]

April 12, 2020

The Buddha’s Enlightenment

Realising that neither the emaciation of the body nor dwelling in luxuries bore fruit to liberation, the Buddha-to-be consumed some food offered to Him, and found a suitable place to meditate under a large pipal tree at Uruvela (now known […]

April 1, 2020

How did the Buddhist Flag come about?

The Buddhist Flag was first hoisted in Sri Lanka on Wesak Day, 28 April 1885, when the country was still under British colonial rule. At that time, the majority Sinhalese Buddhist population felt discriminated against by the colonial authorities when […]

April 1, 2020

What do colours of the Buddhist Flag represent?

The design of the standard Buddhist Flag comprises six vertical coloured stripes of equal width – blue, yellow, red, white, orange, and a combination of the five colours as the sixth. For graphical reasons, the sixth stripe is shown as […]

April 1, 2020

“Wesak Day was just another holiday for me”

A newbie’s experience with Buddhism. For most of my life, Wesak Day was just another holiday; a day to wake up late and do nothing much. I only knew it was to celebrate the Buddha’s Enlightenment, but didn’t know much […]