intended primarily to assist monks and nuns in their
discipline, they have important implications for the
LAITYas well. In a general sense, these rituals produce
certainty about the purity of the monks and nuns to
whom one offers alms (dana) and from whom one
hears sermons or receives PRECEPTS, thereby guaran-
teeing the efficacy of such activities in a layperson’s
presumably longer march toward nirvana. More
specifically, over time lay calendrical rituals and festi-
vals have emerged to correspond with the rituals in the
monastery.
Thus, from a very early date, it has been considered
appropriate for all Buddhists to make the lunar sab-
baths, and especially the full-moon days, occasions for
enhanced religious activity. At the very least, ordinary
lay Buddhists will try to visit the local temple on such
days in order to make offerings (puja) to a buddha im-
age, bodhi tree, or STUPAafter reciting praises of the
Buddha (namaskara), the three REFUGES(tisarana),
and the five precepts (pañcaslla). The more pious
members of a given lay community adopt an especially
rigorous disciplinary regimen for the day, taking on
three extra precepts (not to sit on elevated or com-
fortable seats, not to eat after 12:00 noon, and not to
adorn the body with perfumes and jewelry), in addi-
tion to the ordinary five; the third precept, chastity
(kamesu micchacara), is replaced with celibacy (brah-
macariya). These “Eight Precept holders” wear special
clothes (a white version of the traditional monastic
robes) and are honored with special forms of address
and provision usually reserved for monks and nuns.
They spend the day in the temple listening to sermons,
studying and reciting the dharma, performing puja,
and meditating, returning to their homes only in the
night or the following morning.
Corresponding to the centrality accorded the vassa
season in the yearly monastic ritual calendar, lay Bud-
dhists also perform special rites on full-moon days,
which mark the beginning and end of the retreat. Em-
ploying an ancient Pali formula, temple patrons inau-
gurate vassaby ceremonially inviting monks within a
particular monastic boundary to come to their temple
for the retreat, and they mark the end of the season
with elaborate festivities, such as processions and alms-
givings, that culminate in the presentation of monas-
tic robes (kathina puññakamma), either to the monks
themselves or to an image of the Buddha or a stupa.
Certain other full-moon days are also singled out
for special festivals. Most important among them is the
full-moon day corresponding to April/May (Vesakha),
on which day the Buddha is believed to have been born,
to have achieved enlightenment, and to have reached
parinirvana.On this day Buddhists throughout the re-
gion erect colorful billboard-like displays containing
pictures of the life of the Buddha, of JATAKAor histor-
ical stories, and of scenes in various HEAVENSand
HELLS, in addition to decorating their homes with ban-
ners, flags, and lanterns. Festive foods are eaten, and
in more recent times Buddhists have begun to send
cards and sing carols paralleling the Christian cele-
bration of Christmas and Easter. Vesakha is also a
popular occasion for PILGRIMAGEto sites of religious
significance. Similarly, though on a smaller scale, var-
ious events in the life of the Buddha and in Buddhist
history that are believed to have occurred on particu-
lar full-moon days are remembered and celebrated on
those days across the Buddhist world. In some coun-
tries certain of these days are considered especially
significant. Thus, for example, modern Sri Lankan
Buddhists place special emphasis on the full-moon
day corresponding to June/July (Sinhala, Poson),
when Mahinda is believed to have brought BuddhismFESTIVALS ANDCALENDRICALRITUALS
A woman participating in traditional Cambodian New Year cel-
ebrations pours water over a statue of the Buddha at a temple in
Phnom Penh, 2001. AP/Wide World Photos. Reproduced by per-
mission.