Devotees brave heavy rains to observe Wesak Day
KUALA LUMPUR: Wesak Day celebrations in the city were marred by torrential rains, but that did not stop thousands of devotees from commemorating the birth, enlightenment and death of Buddha.
The Buddhist Maha Vihara temple in Brickfields was a hive of activity with a large number of devotees.
Like previous years, the highlight of the celebrations here will be a 12km procession that will begin and end at the temple.
Some devotees came from as far as Penang and Malacca to follow the chariot procession scheduled for the night.
Devotees prayed in the temple and lit oil lamps. It is believed that light from oil lamps removes darkness, symbolising the lighting up of life.
In PENANG, thousands of Buddhist devotees thronged the Mahindrama Buddhist Temple in Jalan Kampar and the Malaysian Buddhist Association in Jalan Pangkor.
At the Mahindrama Buddhist Temple, devotees converged at the holy site to observe a relic brought from Sri Lanka, believed to belong to Buddha.
At the Malaysian Buddhist Association, devotees were already at the temple from as early as 6am despite a downpour that caused some low lying areas in the state to be submerged.
In his Wesak Day message, newly-minted Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said mutual respect is one of the key elements of a diverse society like Malaysia.
He said Penang as a melting pot of diversity, is a success story of how people can live together, support one another and progress to be among the top global cities.