Lalitpur [Nepal], August 25 : The festival of summer gifts, Yala Panchadan was celebrated in the ancient city of Patan of Lalitpur. The former royal kingdom that falls inside the Kathmandu Valley in Newa: the term is known as “Yala”.
In the celebrations, barefooted monks walked around the ancient town receiving alms and chanting hymns and prayers. This festival is celebrated by Vajrayana Buddhists, especially Shakyas and Bajracharyas, from the Newar community of Kathmandu, Bhaktapur, Lalitpur, Panauti and Banepa.
A resident of Patan City, Sandeep Shakya told ANI, “On this day, people donate on the basis of their capacity- rice, money and other items. Dipankar Buddha is kept at various locations and this festivity has continued for more than 700 years.”
On this day, Buddhist artifacts are displayed in monasteries and households and giant idols of Dipankara Buddhas are paraded around town. People worship the Dipankara Buddhas and offer Panchadan – which comprises rice grains, wheat grains, fruit, salt and money – to alms-seekers.
According to legend, the Panchadan festival has been celebrated every year since Nepal
Sambat 512 (AD 1390).
“It is believed to have started from Deepankar Kathagat’s time. In Lalitpur, there was a king named Ramananda and Panchadan started his regime. He was mocked by people for donating from the richness that he incurred through inheritance-becoming king. He then got engaged in a low-earning profession- the work of metals; he meticulously worked for 12 years and saved money. He later used it to make donations and it has been followed since then,” Desh Ratna Shakya, another resident of Patan told ANI.
The ancient city also is set to hold Samyak Mahadan, a reunion of Buddhas later this year which brings on followers from all over Kathmandu Valley.
The annual festival of Samyak Mahadan is marked every year at Bhaktapur, once in half a decade at Lalitpur and once in 12 years in Kathmandu where a total of 1 hundred and 26 Buddhas are brought into a single place.
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