Today is the descending day of the Lord Buddha. History says that Lord Buddha was born in Lumbini, Nepal, and his mother expired after 7 days. Therefore 6 years after attaining enlightenment at the age of 41, he ascended to heaven on the 15th day of the 6th month of the lunar calender to preach to his mother.
When he was preaching his mother along with gods and goddesses in heaven, people on earth were worried because they did not know where Buddha was. Then, Buddha’s disciple, the clairvoyant Sharibu, had a vision of the lord to be in heaven.
Following the request of all the devotees, another disciple of Lord Buddha, Mao gyel ge bu, who was known to possess miraculous powers, ascended to heaven on the 15th day of the ninth month of the lunar calender and requested Buddha to return to earth.
Lord Buddha descended to earth on the 22nd day of the 9th month. The descending day of Lord Buddha is a celebration of his return to earth from heaven.
Butter lamp offerings in front of a giant statue of the Buddha in the Thimphu Tashichhodzong.
Fire in Haa Bazaar
Today a fire in Haa bazaar destroyed 4 houses leaving many famalies without anything. The fire which started at about 1 in the afternoon was finally brought under control at about 4. After the fire I spoke to one of the victims, Mr. Gopinathan, who lost everything. Mr. Gopinathan is from Kerala, and he has lived in the same house for 14 years. In-fact his eldest daughter was born in the same house. His daughter has exams tomorrow.
The smoke from the fire in Haa bazaar as seen from a distance.
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