Modhu Purnima ( bn, মধু পূর্ণিমা, lit=honey full-moon) also known as Honey Full Moon Festival or Honey-offering Festival is a

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 ...

celebrated in

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mo ...

by the

Barua Barua (also spelt as ''Baruah'', ''Barooah'', ''Baruwa'', ''Baroova'', ''Barooa'', ''Baroowa'', ''Borooah'', ''Boruah'', or ''Baroa'') is a common Assamese surname. In Assam Valley History Originally, the ''Barua'' surname was used as a milit ...

and

Chakma people The Chakma people ( ccp, 𑄌𑄋𑄴𑄟𑄳𑄦; ) are a tribal group from the eastern-most regions of the Indian subcontinent. They are the largest ethnic group in the Chittagong Hill Tracts region of southeastern Bangladesh, and the se ...

Chittagong Chittagong ( /ˈtʃɪt əˌɡɒŋ/ ''chit-uh-gong''; ctg, চিটাং; bn, চিটাগং), officially Chattogram ( bn, চট্টগ্রাম), is the second-largest city in Bangladesh after Dhaka and third largest city in ...

and by the

Mon people The Mon ( mnw, ဂကူမည်; my, မွန်လူမျိုး‌, ; th, wikt:มอญ, มอญ, ) are an ethnic group who inhabit Lower Myanmar's Mon State, Kayin State, Kayah State, Tanintharyi Region, Bago Region, the Irrawaddy ...

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 b ...

. It occurs on the day of the

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 longitudes of the Sun and Moon differ by 180°). This mea ...

in the Bangla month of

Bhadro Bhadro ( bn, ভাদ্র ''Bhadrô'') is the fifth month in the Bengali calendar. Bhadro marks the beginning of Sharat or Autumn. According to the modified calendar developed by the Bangla Academy, the month of Bhadro has 31 days from 18 Aug ...

(August/September).

History

The day commemorates an occasion on which the

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a 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 born in L ...

retreated to the wilderness of Parileyya forest to bring peace between two quarrelling factions of disciples. According to legend, a monkey and an elephant named Parileyyaka fed him during this time, the elephant bringing fruit and the monkey bringing a

honeycomb A honeycomb is a mass of hexagonal prismatic wax cells built by honey bees in their nests to contain their larvae and stores of honey and pollen. Beekeepers may remove the entire honeycomb to harvest honey. Honey bees consume about of honey ...

. The monkey was so excited when the Buddha accepted his gift that he began leaping from tree to tree and fell to his death. However, he was immediately reborn in Tavatimsa as a result of his generosity. On this day, the Bhikkhus of

Kosambi Kosambi (Pali) or Kaushambi ( Sanskrit) was an important city in ancient India. It was the capital of the Vatsa kingdom, one of the sixteen mahajanapadas. It was located on the Yamuna River about southwest of its confluence with the Ganges ...

ended the disunity in their ranks and went to the Buddha in the forest to take a vow of unity and cooperation. In his sermon, Buddha pointed to the elephant and said, "This elephant lives alone in the forest in the absence of a proper partner. If you do not get associates with wisdom and high thoughts, it is better to live alone in this world, for foolish associates will only increase your suffering." After the rains retreat the monks who had split into two groups agreed to make up their differences because the local lay people were not making any offerings to them. The monks sent a representative to see the Buddha and invite him to go back to the city. The elephant palilayaka was heartbroken to see the Buddha go, and followed him out of the forest, and even made as if he would follow the Buddha into the city. The Buddha turned to him and said, "Palilayaka. This is the limits of your territory. From here on is the territory of man, which are a great danger to animals such as you. You cannot come with me! Palilayaka the elephant stood and roared in grief, but did not dare follow the Buddha. As soon as the Buddha was out of sight, his heart broke and he died right there. The texts state that the elephant and the monkey, after dying at that time, were reborn as devas in the Tavatimsa heaven.

Celebration

Modhu Purnima is celebrated as a joyous day of unity and charity. All Buddhists observe it by bringing gifts of honey and fruit to shrines or

monasteries A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

References

{{Reflist

External links

Description
from

Mahidol University Mahidol University (Mahidol), an autonomous research institution in Thailand, had its origin in the establishment of Siriraj Hospital in 1888. Mahidol had an acceptance rate for Medicine of 0.4% as of the 2016 academic year. Becoming the Univers ...

accessed 2008-08-11
A Meaningful Story of Buddha, Elephant and Monkey
by Marguerite Theophil, United Press International, November 16, 2006, accessed 2008-08-09 Buddhist festivals in Thailand Festivals of Bangladeshi culture Religious festivals in Bangladesh August observances September observances Bengali Hindu festivals Observances held on the full moon Buddhist festivals in Bangladesh