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Schedule of Events for Sunday, February 24, 2019
| Sunday Market | 8:30am to 1:00pm |
| Sunday Service | 1:00pm t0 2:00pm |
First time visitors: The Sunday Market is cash only. The closest ATM is located at the 7-11 (about 1/3 mile west of the Temple) on Palm River Road.
The Temple parking lot has been expanded and you will be able to park on the Temple grounds! Please DO NOT park in the church parking area (including the grassy area) or on the lawn of houses near Wat Tampa.
The following are the Buddhist and Thai holidays celebrated in 2019 at Wat Tampa.
Welcome to Wat Mongkolratanaram (also know as Wat Tampa). Happy New Year!
Let me start today by quoting to you a traditional Thai New Years wish: "By the power of the Buddhist Triple Gems: Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha - May you and your family be blessed with good health, beautiful, prosperous, long life, and be successful in your career and in life for the New Year. May all of these blessings and all your wishes be fulfilled."
Makha Puja Day falls on the full moon day of the third lunar month. The date of all of the Thai festivals is based on the lunar calendar so the "American" dates vary from year to year. We will be celebrating Magha Puja Day at Wat Tampa on Sunday, February 17, 2019.
This ceremony marks two important dates in the life of Buddha. The first event occurred two years after Buddha’s enlightenment and is referred to as the Fourfold assembly. These events were:
- All 1,250 monks had achieved enlightenment.
- These monks were ordained by Buddha himself
- The monks assembled on their own without being called together.
On Sunday, April 14, 2019 we celebrate the Songkarn Festival. You may know it by one of its "nicknames" – Thai New Year or the Water Festival.
It is a Thai tradition to give Alms offering to Monks. And in turn, you offer this good deed to relatives who passed away by wishing for them by pouring a small glass of water on a big tree and it is a very good deed and good luck for the beginning of a New Year. This year, as in earlier years there will be a ceremony of sprinkling the Buddha statues and Monks with flower pedals & perfumed water., and, of course, the congregation will also sprinkle perfumed water on each other for good luck and good health and a prosperous New Year. There will be Thai Vegetable and Thai food available.
Things to do on Songkarn:
- Do offer food alms to the Buddhist monks at the temple
- Do donate the merit on behalf of one's ancestors
- Do sprinkle water onto a Buddha image and the monks for good luck
- Do pour scented water onto the parents and elders hands for good luck and prosperity
- Do bring family members to visit grandparents. It is a family day.
- Do clean up home and engage in volunteer work to clean public areas
- Do set birds and fish free for merit
- Do politely play with water for joy and to continue good traditions
- Do arrange the tradional plays to continue the cultural heritage
Visakha Puja Day is an important day in Buddhism. We will celebrate Visakha Puja Day at Wat Tampa on Sunday, May 19, 2019
Visakha Puja Day marks the Buddhism Trinity or three important incidents occurred in the life of Lord Buddha on the same day. They happened on the same day on full moon of the sixth lunar month.
Asalha Puja Day is one of the most sacred days in Buddhism. It is observed on the fifteenth day of the waxing moon of the eight lunar month (July). This year it is celebrated at Wat Tampa on Sunday, July 14, 2019.
Asalha Puja Day is the anniversary of the day on which Lord Buddha delivered his first Sermon to his five Disciples at the Deer Park in Benares, over two thousand five hundred years ago. The day also marks the beginning of the worship of the Triple Gems, namely: the Lord Buddha, His Teachings and His Disciples. This day also is celebrated as Thai Father's day (King's birthday).
Read more: Asalha Puja Day / Buddhist Lent Day 2019 - July 14, 2019
This year Thai Mothers Day will be celebrated on Sunday, August 12, 2018. Her Majesty, Queen Sirikit of Thailand was born on August 12th, 1932. Thai Mothers Day is a celebration of the Queen's birthday as well as to honor mothers everywhere. The Queen is the symbolic mother of Thailand and is honored as the "First Mother". For almost sixty years, the Queen has stood by the Thai nation dedicating her time and efforts to the common good. For all of her endless devotion the people of Thailand are grateful.
If the Temple sponsors the Thai Summer school in 2018, the graduation ceremony will also be held on August 12. A complete list of events includess:
- Nuns will receive and observe the eight precepts to honor Her Majesty the Queen
- There will be a public ceremony honoring the Queen
- Thai Summer School Graduation Ceremony
- The summer school students will participate in Thai classical dancing and Music shows
Sart Thai day will be celebrated at Wat Tampa on Sunday, September 23, 2018 this year. Sart Thai day falls in the middle of the traditional Thai year. It occurs on the fifteenth day of the waning moon of the tenth lunar month (sometime during September).
The word Sart, derived from the Pali language, means season and in particular autumn or fall. Sart Thai day is also referred to as Memorial Day. This is not Memorial Day as Americans might assume. In Thailand, Sart Thai is a time to remember dead relatives with prayers, Buddhist rituals, and merit making on their behalf.
This ceremony marks the end of Buddhist lent and is being celebrated at Wat Tampa on Sunday, October 13, 2019. This year the celebration will also include the Kathina Ceremony.
The first day of Thai Lent is referred to as Asalha Puja Day (or Commencement Day). This holiday will be celebrated at Wat Tampa on July 14 this year. The date of all of the Thai festivals is based on the lunar calendar so the "American" dates vary from year to year. You may also here Lent referred to as the "rains retreat."
Read more: End of Buddhist Lent / King Bhumibol Adulyadej Memorial Day - October 13, 2019
The Kathina Ceremony will be celebrated at Wat Tampa on Sunday October 27, 2019. This ceremony is the culmination of events that started with the "rains retreat" or start on Lent. The Kathina (or Royal Krathina) occurs shortly after the end of Lent for the reasons explained below.
During Lent (roughly the rainy season in Thailand) monks could not travel.The monks stayed overnight in the same temple for three lunar months. The Kathina ceremony originates from the time of Buddha. The original ceremony was for a group of monks traveling to meet Lord Buddha. They were unable to completed their journey before the beginning of the rains retreat (Lent). At the end of Lent they completed their journey. Their clothes had become soaked and dirty on their way to meet Lord Buddha. When Buddha saw their condition he allowed lay people to offer the monks yellow robes. The tradition of presenting robes to monks continues today in the Kathina ceremony.
Welcome to Wat Mongkolratanaram (also know as Wat Tampa). Happy New Year! Temnple will celebrate New years Day 2020 on January 1, 2020
Let me start today by quoting to you a traditional Thai New Years wish: "By the power of the Buddhist Triple Gems: Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha - May you and your family be blessed with good health, beautiful, prosperous, long life, and be successful in your career and in life for the New Year. May all of these blessings and all your wishes be fulfilled."