Buddhist Sàrìrikadhàtu to be sent from south to north

VietNamNet Bridge – Sàrìrikadhàtu – Buddhist treasures (things left after the physical bodies of the Buddha or eminent monks were burnt) – will be transferred from Giac Quang Pagoda in HCM City to Quan Su Pagoda in Hanoi and then to Bai Dinh Pagoda in Ninh Binh province on June 6.

A great celebration will be organised in HCM City, Hanoi and Ninh Binh province, attracting more than 10,000 people, including 1000 monks and delegates from Thailand, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Cambodia and Vietnam.

The largest ceremony will take place at Bai Dinh Pagoda, the largest pagoda in Vietnam.

The Buddha Sàrìrikadhàtu was presented by senior monk Tinh Giac of Giac Quang Pagoda in HCM City, who is the supreme advisor of Thai Buddhism. Bai Dinh Pagoda will receive six Buddha Sàrìrikadhàtu and three eminent monk Sàrìrikadhàtu while Quan Su Pagoda will house four Buddha and three eminent monk Sàrìrikadhàtu.

“Receiving and worshipping Buddha Sàrìrikadhàtu is the legitimate aspiration of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha and Vietnamese Buddhists,” said the government religion committee chief Nguyen The Doanh.

A senior monk presented the Buddha Sàrìrikadhàtu to venerable monk Tinh Giac at a Buddhist congress in Yangoon, Myanmar in 1956. The Sàrìrikadhàtu has been worshipped at Giac Quang Pagoda in HCM City since then.

Buddha Sàrìrikadhàtu are the remains of Buddha after the burning ceremony in Kusinara, India more than 2,500 years ago. There are 84,000 Buddha Sàrìrikadhàtu pieces. The largest are as big as a grain of rice and smallest as small as sesame seeds.

Only the Buddha and eminent monks leave Sàrìrikadhàtu after they die and are burnt.

The Buddha Sàrìrikadhàtu is the treasure of Buddhism. For Buddhists, worshipping Buddha Sàrìrikadhàtu is directly worshipping the Buddha.