The Nepalese community in Edmonton, Canada observed 2561st Buddha Jayanti with great enthusiasm amidst a special culture event at Lansdowne Community Hall on May 14, 2017. The cultural event was organized by Newa Cultural Society of Alberta (NCSA), a local organization to practice, promote and preserve Newa culture and traditions in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Meanwhile, Buddha Jayanti is observed each year to celebrate Buddha’s birth anniversary and commemorate his enlightenment and Mahaparinirvan (death).

The cultural event was jointly inaugurated by venerable Mettaya Shakyaputta, a Buddhist monk, from Lumbini, Nepal; and Guruma Bodhi, a Canadian Nun and President of Canadian Engaged Buddhism Association (CEBA), by lighting Twadewas, traditional Nepali artistic oil lamps.
In the beginning of the cultural event, Dr. Hemanta Joshi, President of NCSA, honored venerable Mettaya Shakyaputta and Guruma Bodhi offering Khata and souvenir. In his welcome speech, Dr. Joshi, highlighted on the importance of celebrating Buddha Jayanti festival in the community annually. According to Dr. Joshi, Buddha Jayanti festival is not only of Newa or Nepali people but also the festival of the people of the world. Dr. Joshi mentioned that in the first conference of the World Fellowship of Buddhist held in Colombo, Sri Lanka in May 1950, a decision was made to celebrate Buddha Jayanti in the world on the full moon day of May each year. According to Dr. Joshi, Buddha’s teachings and principles are very important in relieving sufferings of the people and keeping peace in the world.

At the cultural event, venerable Mettaya Shakyaputta and Guruma Bodhi led the participants in offering prayers to Lord Buddha. Venerable Shakyaputta gave a thoughtful speech about Newa culture and civilization; history at the time of Buddha; and Buddha’s life, teachings and principles. According to Shakyaputta, Buddha guided and trained millions of followers every day. According to Shakyaputta, Buddha taught about the very basic things: what is it to be a human, what is it to be a person, what is love, what is ambition, what is greed, what is jealousy, what is the sense of existence, what is the idea of being self and how it creates – all the projections that we see in the society. According to Shakyaputta, Buddha offered cognitive path, the meditation, as a tool for self-transformation through self-observation. In the cultural event, Guruma Bodhi conducted a brief session on the Anapana to the participants.

During the cultural event, participants were entertained with spiritual song, melody and cultural quizzes related to Buddha. At the end of the cultural event, Bhojan Dan, a ritual of offering food to the monks and nuns, was offered to venerable Mettaya Shakyaputta and Guruma Bodhi