Did you know that there are so many significant events that took place prior to and on the Vap Full Moon Poya Day during the time of the Supreme Buddha? Did you also know that the Vap Poya Day is the last day of the Rains Retreat for monks? And do you know why the Vap Poya Day is a special one for Sri Lankans?
Vap Poya is significant due to the many historical events that took place on this full moon day. Over 2,500 years ago in the northern plains of India, Suddhodana, the Sakya King of Kapilavasthupura, discovered that his young son would grow up to be a great man one day, just as the royal astrologers had predicted at his birth. As the Buddhist scriptures state, the event happened at the royal Vap Magula (Ploughing Festival) where the king was the first to furrow the land and make the soil ready to receive its first batch of paddy seeds. The King had taken his son and heir Prince Siddhartha – the future Gautama Buddha – to witness the ceremony.
Whilst the king was engaged in ploughing the land, Prince Siddhartha, who was five-months old, had gone missing. In panic, the king, rose from the field and began to search for the prince. Prince Siddhartha was found in a leafy glade seated cross-legged in a lotus pose, absorbed in deep meditation; with his frame in a state of levitation. Moved by this extraordinary sight, King Suddhodana could not help but pay salutation to his son.
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