TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search results
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search resultsLeaders call for peace as thousands celebrate Waisak at Borobudur Temple
Around 25,000 Buddhists from Indonesia and abroad took part in prayers and reflections on the key events in the life of Siddhartha Gautama.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
Buddhist monks meditate on May 31 at the foot of Borobudur Temple in Magelang, Central Java, as part of the Waisak celebration marking the year 2,570 in the Buddhist Era. (Courtesy of/Central Java Administration)
T
housands of Buddhists gathered at Borobudur Temple, the world’s largest Buddhist temple in Magelang regency, Central Java, on Sunday to observe Waisak, with religious leaders calling for global peace, tolerance and unity.
The peak of the celebration began around 10 a.m. with a three-kilometer procession from Mendut Temple, a ninth-century site, to Borobudur. Worshippers carried fire from the Eternal Flame of Mrapen in Grobogan regency and water from Umbul Jumprit in Temanggung regency, both in Central Java.
The procession was accompanied by marching bands and decorated cars.
Upon arrival at Borobudur, participants joined prayers and rituals in preparation for Waisak, which fell at 3:44:44 p.m. local time this year, marking the year 2570 in the Buddhist calendar.
Around 25,000 Buddhists from Indonesia and abroad took part in prayers and reflections on the key events in the life of Siddhartha Gautama.
The celebration concluded at night with a drone light show depicting scenes from the life of the Buddha, followed by the release of 2,570 lanterns into the sky.
The Chairman of the Indonesian Buddhist Council (Walubi), Hartati Murdaya, said this year’s Waisak commemoration carried the theme “Dharma (the Buddha’s teachings and way of life) as a Source of Morality and Virtue,” with the subtheme “Love and Compassion as the Source of World Peace.”
