Buddhist festival helps keep culture alive

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New Plymouth, New Zealand -- New Plymouth's Sri Lankan community brought its culture alive on Saturday in celebration of religious and cultural festival Vesak.

<< TALKING TRADITION: Young performer Sethini Koralage, 3, at a Sri Lankan religious and cultural festival in Bell Block on Saturday.

The festival commemorates the birth, enlightenment and death of Buddha.

Organiser Ramitha Fernando said it was similar to what Diwali was to Hindus and what Ramadan was to Muslims.

"It is important to celebrate this on a large scale because once you've left your motherland you are isolated.

"There are no Buddhist temples in New Plymouth.

"It's particularly easy for the young children to forget their culture, their religion and their mother tongue."

More than 125 people attended the fifth celebration held in the province, as well as three monks who travelled from Auckland to take part in the ceremony.

The day began with an offerings ceremony, in which flowers, incense and beverages were passed around a circle to the monks who then placed them on a statue of Buddha.

"That's how we offer things to Buddha," Mr Fernando said.

Sermons followed, and the monks were then offered gifts from the people.

Buddhist songs were also performed by children and their parents.

Mr Fernando said many different cultures turned up to experience the Buddhist tradition and a good time was had by all participants.

"Some of those in our community work as engineers and they brought some workmates along so they were able to come and appreciate our culture and food," he said.

"Our plan is to continue this for many years."

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Ban Sukhawadee helps raise funds for massive Issan Buddhist center

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Pattaya, Thailand -- Saha Farms’ Ban Sukhawadee and the Phra Yai Chaiyaphum Foundation organized a merit-making ceremony to raise funds for a 20 billion baht Buddhism center in Thailand’s northeast.

Saha Farms Managing Director Punya Chotithewan welcomed Banglamung District Chief Sakchai Taengho, Nongprue Police Superintendent Col. Somnuk Janthages, and Thipakorn Rinthaisongh, president of the Phra Yai Chaiyaphum Foundation, to the grandiose Pattaya mansion May 10.

Guests donate funds for the new Buddhism center in Thailand’s northeast.Guests donate funds for the new Buddhism center in Thailand’s northeast.

Guests donated funds that will go toward construction of a religious center slated to host the world’s largest Buddhist statue, among other attractions, in Chaiyaphum’s Nafai Sub-district.

The 20 billion baht project calls for a biography of Buddha’s 500 lives, four pagodas, models of important Buddhist destinations around the world, a 2,500-person sermon hall, a pavilion to accommodate 5,000, lotus swimming pool, 500-rai sake-head statue, parking for 1,000 cars, waterfalls, accommodations for monks and more.

Construction is scheduled to begin this year.

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Buddhist group helps quake victims in northern Italy

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Rome, Italy -- Members of Taiwan's Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation from Germany, France and the United Kingdom braved snow in northern Italy Saturday to distribute shopping vouchers to residents struck by an earthquake earlier this year.

The 37 volunteers distributed the shopping vouchers, worth 100 euros each, to about 400 residents of the Bondeno and Finale Emilia townships to help them through the winter.

Residents in the two areas, part of the Emilia Romagna region hit by a magnitude-5.9 quake May 20, are in desperate need of help, and the charity drive mainly targeted families with elderly members and children, or those struggling for money, Chen Shu-wei, a Taiwanese volunteer based in Germany, told CNA.

The foundation currently does not have a branch in Italy and the volunteers traveled across borders to the affected areas in tour buses, despite heavy snow that had begun days before.

Chen said the people coming in for the vouchers were quite shy or even cold at the start, but began to soften when they knew better what the group was doing.

"You could tell that some of them were brimming over with happiness by the looks on their faces, while others even hugged us or shook our hands," Chen said.

The volunteers also screened a video in which Tzu Chi founder Dharma Master Cheng Yen prayed for and encouraged the earthquake victims.

Angelo d'Aiello, an official of Finale Emilia, said the township authorities had to turn to charities for help, given limited government resources.

Claudio Sabatini, a local entrepreneur and coordinator of the charity drive, said the events marked a good start for cooperation with the Buddhist group.

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