Lhabab Düchen (Tib. ལྷ་བབས་དུས་ཆེན་, Wyl. lha babs dus chen) is one of the four

Buddhist festival Japanese, Burmese, Tibetan, Indian, Nepalese, Bhutanese, Chakma, Marma and Barua festivals often show the influence of Buddhist culture. Pagoda festivals in Myanmar are one example. In Tibet, India and Bhutan these festivals may include the ...

s commemorating four events in the life of the

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was ...

, according to Tibetan traditions. Lhabab Düchen occurs on the 22nd day of the ninth lunar month according to

Tibetan calendar The Tibetan calendar (), or Tibetan lunar calendar, is a lunisolar calendar, that is, the Tibetan year is composed of either 12 or 13 lunar months, each beginning and ending with a new moon. A thirteenth month is added every two or three years, s ...

and widely celebrated in

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...

and

Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainous ...

. The festival is also celebrated in other Buddhist Asian countries including

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

and

Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...

where it is celebrated a few weeks before the Tibetan and Bhutanese version. Lhabab Duchen is a

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

festival celebrated to observe the Buddha's descent from the Trāyastriṃśa heaven down to earth, one of ''

The Eight Great Events in the Life of Buddha The ''Eight Great Events'' (''ashtammaha-pratharya'') are a set of episodes in the life of the Buddha, Gautama Buddha that by the time of the Pala Empire of North India around the 9th century had become established as the standard group Life o ...

''.British Museum
/ref> According to legend, the Buddha ascended the Trāyastriṃśa heaven temporarily at the age of 41, in order to give teachings to benefit the gods in that desire realm, and to repay the kindness of his mother by liberating her from Samsara. He was exhorted by his disciple and representative

Maudgalyayana Maudgalyāyana ( pi, Moggallāna), also known as Mahāmaudgalyāyana or by his birth name Kolita, was one of the Buddha's closest disciples. Described as a contemporary of disciples such as Subhuti, Śāriputra ('), and Mahākāśyapa ( pi, M ...

to return, and after a long debate and under a

full moon The full moon is the lunar phase when the Moon appears fully illuminated from Earth's perspective. This occurs when Earth is located between the Sun and the Moon (when the ecliptic coordinate system, ecliptic longitudes of the Sun and Moon opp ...

agreed to return. He returned to earth a week later by a special triple ladder prepared by

Viswakarma Vishvakarma or Vishvakarman ( sa, विश्वकर्मा, Viśvakarmā, all maker) is a craftsman deity and the divine architect of the devas in contemporary Hinduism. In the early texts, the craftsman deity was known as Tvastar and the ...

, the Hindu-Buddhist god of machines. On Lhabab Duchen, the effects of positive or negative actions are multiplied ten million times. It is part of Tibetan Buddhist tradition to engage in virtuous activities and prayer on this day.

Notes

During this day, positive or negative actions are multiplied 100 million times.

References

*http://www.fpmtabc.org/prayers_mmdays.php *https://fpmt.org/media/resources/dharma-dates/ and select November *Buddhist Art News https://web.archive.org/web/20160304214148/https://buddhistartnews.wordpress.com/2013/12/04/lhabab-duchen-the-day-buddha-descended-from-tushita-heavens/ *Legge, James, tran. A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1886; reprint, New York: Dover Publications Inc.,1965. Chapter XVII.

External links

Professing Faith: Story of the Tibetan Buddhist festival of Lhabab Duchen
Public holidays in Bhutan Tibetan Buddhist festivals Festivals in India Tibetan Buddhist art and culture November observances Observances set by the Tibetan calendar {{Tibet-stub

See also

Notes

References

External links