Buddha’s 2553th Birthday celebrated in his Home land Nepal.

Kathmandu, Nepal 9 May 2009: Buddha “The light of Asia” and “The symbol of peace” became 2553 years old where his birth day was celebrated with different program in and around the valley by Buddhists and his followers.The celebration program included various march up programs, concerts dedicated to peace etc where millions of Buddhists and his followers participated the programs.It is believed that Siddhartha Gautam (Buddha) was born in Kapilvastu (Lumbini), then a Shakya Kingdom which now falls in Nepal from King Suddhodana and Queen Maya Devi. The boy at his early age had an aura and charismatic personality. At an early age of 29, after the birth of his son Rahula, he encountered the reality of hunger, sickness, ageness, suffering and death etc which made him flee away from his lavish life of royalty in search of wisdom and enlightenment.Later, he was enlightened in Bodhi Gaya, India where he became Buddha. Every year according to the Bikram Sambath Sukla Pachhya Baishakh Purnima Buddha birth day is celebrated in and around the world highlighting the message of Peace. The Day is also recognized by United Nations in presence of his contribution to mankind.Gautam Buddha was born on a full moon day and he died on full moon day.Hari Man Shakya a Buddhist in a rally said, “We celebrate his birth day to highlight his achievements and to adapt that every year we spread out in the streets of Kathmandu to spread the message of peace. He was a human and later he became a god by his strong will and determination, that courage and strength is what we need to understand and adapt in our life. Today people are more busy in fighting and violence creating a menace and we want to spread this message that thousand of years ago a man was born who accepted the challenge of finding the truth or reality of life and later he enlightened the world with his message of peace.”(Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddha)

By Shreedeep Rayamajhi