Shwedagon bells to ring in unison for peace on Maha Samaya Day

The Shwedagon Pagoda Board of Trustees has announced that bells across the pagoda platform will be rung simultaneously as a symbol of peace during the Full Moon Day of Nayon (Maha Samaya Day) ceremony on 30 May.

As part of the Shwedagon Pagoda’s traditional 12-month seasonal festivals, the Board of Trustees will lead these celebrations on the pagoda platform. The schedule is as follows: 5 am for alms offered to the pagoda, 6 am for alms meals and offerings to Ovadacariya Sayadaws and resident monks, and 6:30 am for a Dhamma discourse at the Ancient Buddha Images Prayer Hall, followed by a water-pouring ceremony to share merit.

At 7:30 am, to commemorate the origins of Maha Samaya Day, Buddhist volunteer associations and staff will divide into two groups, representing the Kapilavutthu and Koliya clans, and they will process clockwise around the pagoda. This will be followed by a recitation of the Maha Samaya Sutta at the Chanthagyi Prayer Hall at the northwest corner, and bells across the platform will be rung.

The board of trustees cordially invites the monks and the public to participate and gain merit during the Maha Samaya Day ceremony. — MT/ZN