Wednesday,October 8, was the last day of the three-month rainy retreat (vassa) which has been a monastic practice in Theravāda Buddhist countries since the time of the Buddha. At the end of the vassa, on the pavarana day, all bhikkhus in a particular vicinity would come together in one place and confess if they might have committed any wrong doing through body, speech and mind and seek for forgiveness and advice from the senior bhikkhu in the gathering.
The bhikkhus dwelling at IBC also celebrated pavarana on Wednesday. After the evening chanting and disciplinary act there was a sky-lantern (ākāsa-padīpa) celebration organized by the resident bhikkhus in IBC. Unfortunately due to heavy rain and strong wind it was impossible to fly any lantern on that day. So, on the following evening everyone again gathered together in front of the New Academic Building and flew the lanterns with joy and happiness. There were altogether ten of them. Flying sky lanterns during this period is a common practice in most Buddhist countries. The purpose of the celebration is to pay respect to the Buddha’s hair relics (kesa-dhātu) which are believed to be preserved and worshiped by the gods (deva) in the heaven. There is a Pāli verse that says the relics are kept in a pagoda called Culamani. Anyway, we, all the members of IBC, wishing for lasting peace in the world, paid respect to the relics by flying the lanterns. It was a wonderful evening to be remembered by everyone.