NAMSAI, Oct 13: Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein has extended his best wishes to the Buddhist community on the auspicious occasion of Satang Potwa (Pavarana) which marked the end of the three-month rain retreat.
Earlier, delivering his sermon, Abbot of Kongmukham (Golden Pagoda), Venerable Vimalatissa underscored the importance of celebrating the occasion and said that “Satang Potwa is a day of both historical significance and an opportunity to make merit, benefiting not only the members of the monastic sangha but also lay Buddhists, who are afforded the opportunity to welcome one another with metta-loving kindness and compassion-thereby enhancing harmony within the community.”
Participating in the auspicious occasion at the Kongmukham, Mein took part in enshrinement of Nimitta (boundary marks) stone at the Sima hall or Sammuk Kathing (ordination hall) in presence of the abbot.
The abbot described that Sima is an important edifice situated within the consecrated area marked by boundary stones, used for activities relating to disciplinary affairs of the Sangha. It is a technical term, denoting the official boundary of the ordination hall, a place where the Sangha performs recitation of patimokha or ordinations.
Mein hoped that with coming up of this important and special structure, it would add up to beauty and architectural splendour of the Kongmukham where several people at a time can participate in the ordination ceremony.
The day was also observed with Buddhist traditional enthusiasm by the Theravada Buddhists throughout the state by performing various meritorious acts. Devotees thronged their monasteries to undertake the five or eight precepts, which also included long periods of chanting, paying homage to the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha, accompanied by offerings of food, flowers, incense, lamps, and other items.
The ceremony is concluded by sharing the accumulated merit with relatives and all sentient beings.
The Kathina robe-offering ceremony will be followed soon after the conclusion of the Satang Potwa for the monks or nuns who have observed three months rain retreat where lay Buddhist devotees would offer donations to the monasteries, and in particular new monastic robes, one of the four requisites of monastic life. (DCM Media Cell)
