Light Events

(At Sunlun Gukyaung Monastery, 7th Mile, celebrating the Festival of Light!)

This year 2019, 12th, 13th and 14th were three days of light, Thadingyut Festival, and 10th, 11th, 12th, Tahsaungmone Festival. We illuminated and light candles around our house, in the garden and at the monastery. People also visited at night to the monastery and paid respect to Sayadaws and light the candles around there. Sayadaw gave back to the visitor sweets and chocolates.

(People were happy accepting sweets from Sunlun Sayada U Wara.)

The Light Events were not complete without Street Festivals. Some streets at Central Yangon held Burmese foods fair. People loved to go there and enjoyed Myanmar foods and snacks. It stayed for 3 days as the Light Festival goes. Celebrated on the ground at some busy roads especially in the Centre of Yangon area. So some roads became were jammed with shops. But no one complained about it, because people enjoyed such street festivals.

(Some streets were blocked with shops.)

(People loved to stay and rest at the street festival for a while.)

(Burmese famous foods were sold! - Sticky glutinous rice hidden inside at tall bamboo sticks.)

Khahtain ceremony was also alive during this season. People grouped and organized the offering of Yellow Robes or gifts, in cash or in kind. Seeing such triangular structures made by wood or bamboo in the street or market place or by the wayside. Each hanged with Myanmar kyats notes, or offering items for the monastery.

('The amount of 27000 kyats of Myanmar 1000 Kyat Notes' was written on the triangular structure).

(It was called 'Padetha Tree' (A tree bore everything that humans could wish.))

Offering Khathain Robes to monks were also the spirit of lightening season. Every monastery held Khahtain donation of Yellow Robes by the people organized. It held special ceremony at the monastery.

(Some invited monks to their house and offering of special robes during the light season still keeps alive.)

(People offered Yellow Robe as Kha-htain donation to the Order of monks during the Light Season at the monastery.)

Moreover

We must eat ‘Mei Za Li buds’ (natural buds from plant) by the instruction of the astrologer on the day of the full moon day of Tasaungtaing. It will be good for our health! So it must be one of the Light Events too!