Buddhist Religion Day (Visakhapuja Day)

 

 Date of Issue : 17 May 2011

Thailand Post will issue a postage stamp and a souvenir sheet to commemorate Vishakhapuja Day on 17 May . It is a very important festival of Buddhists and also celebrated in India as Buddha Purnima. The design of the stamp is based on traditional Thai-style mural paintings .

Vishakha Puja Day

Visakha Puja day goes on to celebrate three important incidents in the life of Lord Buddha on the same day that is the full moon day of the sixth lunar month. The three events are as follows:

The Buddha's birth -This is important as he was born into the royal family and was later named as Siddhartha.
The Enlightenment of Buddha
The Nibbana- This is actually meant to commemorate the death of the Lord Buddha.

Visakha Puja Day is recognized as most important memorial day in Buddhism for the Lord Buddha who wandered from place to place teaching his discoveries to people who are accessible to the instruction, helping large a number of people achieving various levels of spiritual attainment. He sent his followers to spread Buddhism in capitals, cities and upcountry, until Buddhism was firmly established and widely spread. Visakha Puja day is also recognized by the UNESCO in 1999 as "World Heritage Day". Thailand where is the permanent location of the World Fellowship of Buddhists, is chosen to host celebrating event for the day.

Every year when this important day comes around again, all Buddhists throughout the world gather together to perform the worship to recollect the wisdom, purity and compassion of the Buddha.

Winning the Devil, Winning All in the World ( Stamp Design)

These are traditional Thai-style mural paintings created during the reign of King Rama I, which have become well-known as artistic masterpieces. The paintings are taken from mural paintings--"Subduing the Mara" on the walls of the ordination hall of Khongkharam Temple in Potharam District, Ratburi Province. The background of the paintings is deep red colour and the whole background is strewn with fallen flowers. Mother Earth, wringing her locks, is moving with grace. An image of the Lord Buddha, covered with gold leaf, depicted in the posture of Subduing the Mara, is clad in red robes. Phraya Waswadee Mara is seated on the green elephant's back and his entourage consists of demons riding on mythical lions and horses. These paintings are representation of the anecdote about the Floods overcoming the troops of the Mara. Among these troops, there a number of figures depicting Dutch and French soldiers wearing leather helmets.