"Steemit Engagement Challenge | S7W1 | Your Favorite Festival ".

Good day, my dear friends. Today I am starting my SEC Contest 7 of Week 6 by taking part in the contest hosted by the Steem for Pakistan community. Dear @hive-180-106, thank you for providing us this chance to talk to the people in your community about my favorite festival.

Made with canva

Introduction

My country celebrates itself with a number of religious and cultural festivals. The Vesak celebration, which is the most important and exciting event of the year in our culture, is the topic of my discussion with you today.

Vesak is considered both a religious and cultural festival in Sri Lanka. It is celebrated on the full moon day in May. This day is one of the biggest days of the year of the Buddhist Calendar and is celebrated by Buddhists all over the world. Buddhists commemorate this important event that took place in the life of Load Buddha. First comes the birth of Siddhartha Gautham, the second one his supreme attainments as the Buddha, and the third event Load Buddha’s parinibbana.

Not just in Sri Lanka, but also in many other Asian countries like India, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, Indonesia, and Nepal, this festival is celebrated.

what kind of preparations do you do before the festival?

People start to build Pandals (Thoran) on the street, which tells Buddhist tales, as the festival season approaches. There are many pop-up shops set up in the streets selling Vesak-related items including bulbs, buckets, lanterns, flags, and streamers. Family members, especially the children, spend their time creating lanterns and gathering bulbs to decorate their homes. Some people are collecting money to set up Dansal (free delivery of meals, ice cream, drinks, dry foods, etc).

when does it start and end?

It began on Vesak Poya Day and finished seven days later on Vesak Day. However, only Poya Day and the day after Poya Day are designated as Government Holidays. Rest of the days the people celebrate it at night.

what do you do at your festival?

People organize a number of events to commemorate the festival throughout the season. The majority of people—both Buddhists and non-Buddhists—celebrate the season by decorating their homes, streets, offices, and other venues with lights and Vesak lanterns.

On this day, all Buddhist go to the temple, offer flowers, light oil lamps and worship the Buddha. Some are observing sil on this day. While a small group of people assemble to play Vesak devotional music. Some are engaged in giving food and drinks to people as an act of merit. Houses are decorated with Buddhist flags and streamers. It is very beautiful at the night.

how do you celebrate this festival?

Vesak festival is the time when the people decorate the entire country. Therefore, it is also known as the festival of lights. The décoration draws crowds across the towns. People get together with their family and friends and walk around the cities to see the beautiful festival decoration.

Conclusion

My dear friends, the Vesak festival has become one of my favorite holidays because of the delight we experience while lighting lanterns, filling buckets, participating in dansal, and admiring decorations, as I previously mentioned. I would like to invite @dove11, @ripon0630, @m-fdo, @deepak94, and @arshani to participate in this contest.

Thanks for reading.