Bathing The Buddha

The ritual of bathing the Buddha is conducted every year on Buddha's birthday. This practice has been inherited from the Buddha times and is still observed by Buddhist around the world

The Origin Of Bathing Buddha

One of the main activities of the festival is the "bathing Buddha" ritual. Legend records that when Prince Siddhartha was born, there were extraordinary and auspicious signs heralding his birth.

They describe the sky as being clear with brilliant sunshine, flowers blooming and birds singing - dragons appeared in the sky spurting two streams of purified water (one cool and one warm), that gently cascaded down to bathe him.

At his birth, seven lotus flowers sprung up beneath his feet as he walked - pointing one hand to the sky and ground he said "in the heaven above and earth below, I vow to liberate all who suffer in these three realms".

Since that time Buddhists all over the world celebrate his birthday by using fragrant water to bathe the image of Buddha.

This ritual highlights a universal message that "it's easy to wash away physical dirt but it's much more difficult to cleanse one's 'inner dirt' of greed, anger and ignorance."

The Significance Of Bathing Buddha

-Purification of The Body
-No Killing
-No Stealing
-No Sexual Misconduct
-Purification of The Speech * No Lying * No Slander * No Harsh Speech * No Gossip
-Purification of The Mind * No Covetousness * No Hatred * No Delusion
-BATHING OF THE BUDDHA Let us aspire to cleanse our mind of GREED, HATRED and DELUSION

Proper Way Of Bathing Buddha

-Kneel on a cushion
F-ill ladle & pour water over small Buddha statue 3 times
-While pouring water, say:
-1st wash: "May I eliminate all evil thoughts"
-2nd wash: "May I cultivate good deeds"
-3rd wash: "May I help save all living beings"

Following are photos of Buddhist bathing the Buddha statue on Buddha's Birthday, taken from temples in different countries