102777 Most statues of the Lord Buddha are illuminated on Vesak Day, and the celebrations conclude with a candlelight procession through the streets.
102778 The Buddhist community in Singapore is made up of various sectors, each of them offering variant ways of celebrating the occasion – The Mahayana or "Greater Way" constitutes mainly Chinese Singaporeans and form the majority of Buddhists here, while the Mahayana strain of Buddhism arrived on these shores in 1884 through individual missionaries from China's southern province.
102779 The central pillar of Mahayana Buddhism is that Nirvana can be obtained not just through self-perseverance but also through the help of bodhisattvas or "enlightened ones".
102780 One such bodhisattva highly regarded in Singapore is Guanyin, the "Goddess of Mercy".
102781 Mahayana Buddhist temples in Singapore like the Phor Kark See Temple on Bright Hill Road, practise the "three-step, one-bow" ritual on Vesak Day, where devotees take steps on both knees, bowing at every third step as they pray for world peace, personal blessings and repentance.
102782 The exhausting two-hour procession actually begins 24 hours before, when many would reserve a place in the procession, sometimes with only a small tissue packet.
102783 Meanwhile another main variant of Buddhism is Theravada Buddhism, with a focus on seeking one's own path to salvation.
102784 Mainly practised by Singapore's Sri Lankan and Burmese communities, the Burmese Buddhist Temple at Geylang and the Sri Lankaramaya Temple at St Michael's Road practise a ritual of cooking a pot of rice in milk on Vesak Day, reminiscent of Buddha's last meal before his long fast toward enlightenment.
102785 A great place to observe and mark this holy day in Singapore is at the majestic Lian Shan Shuang Lin Temple which literally translates to the Twin Grove of the Lotus Mountain Buddhist Temple.
102786 Built between the years of 1902 to 1908, it is Singapore’s oldest Buddhist temple and the second largest in Asia.
102787 You can also soak in the spirit of the Vesak Day celebrations at The Buddha Tooth Relic Temple, a four-storey spiritual centre in the heart of Chinatown.
102788 It is architecturally inspired by the harmonious combination of the Buddhist mandala and the art culture of Buddhism in the Tang dynasty.