Buddha Purnima in Gangtok

GANGTOK, 06 May: A young monk at Enchey Monastery in Gangtok on the occasion of Buddha Purnima celebrated by Buddhists across the world. The day holds special relevance as it marks the birth, enlightenment and the day when Lord Buddha attained nirvana and also parinirvana.

Buddha Purnima celebrated at Namchi and Namthang

NAMCHI, 06 May: On the auspicious occasion of Buddha Purnima coinciding with Eshwaramma Day, Sri Sathya Sai Samiti Namchi today observed the day in a grand manner with a host of spiritual activities as part of the celebrations.
Organized by Sri Sathya Sai Samiti Namchi, the celebration was attended by area MLA, Binod Rai as the chief guest along with Chairman Passang R Sherpa and members of Namchi Municipal Council.
The celebration, conducted at the heart of Namchi in Central Park, started with a Bal Vikash rally participated by Bal Vikash students, gurus and Sai devotees, with the chanting of bhajan and display of placards with spiritual messages and quotations. The celebration started with the lighting of lamps by the chief guest followed by an opening song by the Bal Vikash students.
Apart from the cultural presentation, chanting of mantras and singing of bhajans also took place during the course of the programme by the Bal Vikash students. The chief guest, area MLA, Mr Rai in his address spoke on the importance of human values and social ethics. He said that such a spiritual programme is the need of the hour so as to streamline the youth towards betterment.
He also cited the importance of spiritual knowledge and its advantages in social development and overall development. He expressed his happiness and satisfaction over the way in which such spiritual activities involving the youth and children is being organized.
In Namthang, the celebration of Buddha Purnima was observed a day ahead on 05 May. Guruji Karma Wangchuk from Takber Darjeeling who was invited for the celebration visited Nima Chholing Buddhist Monastery at Namthang.
He reached Namthang on 04 May and on Saturday he delivered a sermon to devotees in the monastery. The area MLA, Tilu Gurung and Sangha MLA, Phituk Tshering Bhutia attended the spiritual function which was also attended by devotees from South and West Sikkim.
The Buddha Purnima function was organized bythe Hindu Buddhist Coordination Committee of Namthang. During the programme ‘wang’ or ‘prasadam’ was also distributed among the devotees by the monks.

Dalapchand celebrates Buddha Jayanti

GANGTOK, 18 May: Buddha Jayanti was celebrated at the Rinchen Dorjee Choling Gumpa (Gurung Gumpa) at Dalapchand yesterday with a special function organised by the Baudha Sanskar Sudhar Samity (BSSS).
Area MLA Puran Kumar Gurung was present as the chief guest for the ceremonies which included lighting of butter lamps and a procession by the devout carrying holy scriptures.
The monastery’s head monk, Manoj Gurujee, delivered a sermon highlighting the significance of the day.