Buddhists celebrate 'Waisak' at Borobudur

P.J. Leo, The Jakarta Post, Borobudur, Central Java

The annual celebration of Trisuci Waisak -- the holy day for Buddhists marking three great occasions: the birthday of Siddharta Gautama, His Enlightenment as Buddha and His demise -- took place at Borobudur temple, Central Java, last Sunday.

Thousands of Buddhists joined the celebration, even without the presence of President Megawati Soekarnoputri, who had promised to attend.

The ceremony began on Friday, May 24 when Buddhist priests took water from the spring at Umbul Jumprit in the small town of Temanggung. The water was then brought to the Mendut temple.

The next day, Buddhists joined in lighting a torch from Mrapen eternal flame in Purwodadi, east of Semarang. The flaming torch was also brought to the Mendut temple.

Many Buddhists from all over Indonesia flocked the square at Mendut temple early on Sunday to pray before marching to Borobudur temple.

The parade, which was greeted warmly by locals despite the sweltering heat and unrelenting sunlight, was also colored with Reog (East Java's traditional lion dance), Barongsay (Chinese lion dance) and Liong (Chinese dragon dance).

At the Borobudur temple, the procession began at exactly 6:51 p.m. signaled by the beating of gongs and the turning off of all the lights in the yard of the temple. It was followed by meditation from local and foreign priests who came from Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, the United States, Hong Kong, China, Poland, Canada and the Netherlands.

Priests from eight Buddhist councils in Indonesia -- the Indonesian Mahayana Buddhist Council, the Indonesian Maitreya Buddhist Priests Council, the Indonesian Buddhist Council of Indonesian Tantrayana Satya Buddha, the All-Indonesia Council of Priests Pursuing the Three-Virtues, Pandita Sabha Buddha Dharma Indonesia, Parisadha Buddha Dharma Nichiren Syosu Indonesia, the Indonesian Buddhist Council of Tatrayana Zhen Fo Zong Kasogatan and the Council of Indonesian Theravada Buddhists -- led the Puja Bakti prayers.

With the theme, "Buddhists aim to purify the heart and thought for peace", the goal was as cool as the night wind that swept through Borobudur temple that evening.