2023 The Saga Dawa Festival – Green Tara, Guru Rinpoche, lamps offering

Saga Dawa Düchen

The Saga Dawa Festival is a celebration held in the fourth month of the Bhutan/Tibetan calendar. In the Bhutan/Tibetan language, the month of April is known as “Saga Dawa,” hence the name of the festival. This festival is commemorated to honor the birth, enlightenment, and parinirvana of the great spiritual teacher, Shakyamuni Buddha.

According to Bhutan tradition, during the first half of the Saga Dawa month, major monasteries begin to organize grand religious gatherings. They engage in rituals such as offerings, prayers, recitations of scriptures, and sacred dances like the Vajra dance. They also display large thangkas of the Buddha and perform the bathing of the Buddha, all aimed at accumulating merits and blessings. The fifteenth day of the Bhutan/Tibetan fourth month holds significant importance as it marks the occurrences of the Buddha’s conception, enlightenment, and parinirvana. On this day, regardless of the virtuous or negative actions people undertake, the consequences are believed to multiply a hundredfold. It presents an excellent opportunity for practitioners to remove obstacles and accumulate spiritual wealth.

Saga Dawa Series of Ceremonies

1. Green Tara: Wednesday, May 31st – Thursday, June 1st (Bhutan/Tibetan calendar: 4/11 – 4/12)For two consecutive days in Bhutan, all the monastic community will engage in reciting the “Green Tara Praise and Aspiration Prayer.” Support as You Wish
2. Tsog Offering to Guru Rinpoche: Friday, June 2nd – Sunday, June 4th (Bhutan/Tibetan calendar: 4/13 – 4/15) For three consecutive days, there will be the offering of lotus lamps in homage to Guru Rinpoche, with a total of 110,000 repetitions of the prescribed mantra. Support as You Wish
3. Lighting of Lamps at Eight Sacred Sites: Sunday, June 4th (Bhutan/Tibetan calendar: 4/15)On this day, at eight sacred sites, simultaneously, 1,000 butter lamps will be lit at each location. The eight locations are as follows: 1. Gelek Phodrang, 2. Zaxi Phu, 3. Paro, 4. Jangchub Chöling Monastery in Punakha, 5. Guru Temple, 6. Druk Amitabha Temple (Bemalingpa Monastery), 7. Tashichho Dzong, 8. Boudhanath, Nepal.

Registration Hotline: 02-2253-7855 Mrs. Yeshe Lhamo