GEORGE TOWN: The final preparations for Wesak Day celebration on Monday are underway in Penang, with more than 10,000 Buddhists and visitors expected to attend the festival in the state.
A Bernama survey at the Malaysian Buddhist Association (MBA) building in Jalan Burma, here found dozens of volunteers preparing parade vehicles by decorating them with thousands of flowers, as well as setting up 10 tents in the area.
Preparations for the celebration are also going well in several areas around the state, including at the Kek Lok Si Temple in Air Itam, Chaiya Mangalaram Thai Buddhist Temple in Lorong Burma and the Wat Buppharam Buddhist Temple in Jalan Perak here.
According to Penang Wesak Celebration Committee chairman Datuk Dr Loh Hock Hun, his team has started preparations for the Wesak Day celebration in the past two weeks to ensure everything goes smoothly with the fire lighting ceremony to be held tomorrow night (April 11).
“Themed ‘Foster True Compassion and Wisdom, Forge True Peace and Harmony’, this year’s celebration in Penang will feature a grand parade on Monday starting at 6 pm, a tradition since 1949.
“A total of 20 decorated floats from various associations and temples will parade for seven kilometres starting from the MBA building and ending there,” he told Bernama.
He added that a lotus-themed exhibition from May 3 to May 12, showcasing calligraphy, paintings, performances and other Buddhist items is also being held at MBA Building.
Meanwhile, state Social Development, Welfare and Non-Muslim Religious Affairs Committee chairman Lim Siew Khim said this year marks the 10th anniversary of the Wesak Day celebration which was organised as a collaboration between the state government and MBA.
She said the celebration this year will last for 10 days from May 3 to May 12 with various programmes planned for the various communities.
“This year, on Wesak Day (May 12), visitors will have the opportunity to witness the beauty of the Buddhist festival including a decorated chariot parade and Buddhists are invited to celebrate together.
“Over the past decade, we have not only witnessed the unity of the Buddhist community but also how goodness and positive energy can connect religion with society,” she said.
Wesak Day is the most important celebration for Buddhists to commemorate the birth, enlightenment and death of the founder of the religion, Siddhartha Gautama. It is celebrated by lighting lamps, lotus-shaped candles, scattering flowers and bathing Buddha statues.