THE Shwedagon Pagoda Board of Trustees organized and held the Full Moon Day of Nayon (Maha Samaya Day) ceremony at the Shwedagon Pagoda on the morning of 30 May.
At 5 am, a grand alms food offering ceremony to the pagoda was held at the reception pavilion on the platform. Members of the board and religious association groups paid homage to the Buddha by offering dawn food, flowers, water, fruits, and oil lamps.
Following this, the participants offered meals to the Shwedagon Ovadacariya Sayadaws and invited monks at the Yaungtawphwint Prayer Hall. After the donation, they poured water to share merits for all collective good deeds.
The Maha Samaya Day procession then commenced from the Chanthagyi Prayer Hall. It depicted the origin of the day with a royal procession representing the kings, ministers, and regalia of the two kingdoms – Kapilvatthu and Koliya. The participants and pilgrims paid homage with a full clockwise procession around the platform.
Afterwards, at the Chanthagyi Prayer Hall, the ceremony continued with recitations, ritual invitations, collectively reciting the Maha Samaya Sutta, making prayers, sharing merits, and chanting Sadhu. It concluded with the three-time recitation of “May the Buddha’s teachings last forever”. — MT/ZN