Kathmandu, February 6

More than 2600 years ago, Prince Siddhartha Gautam after becoming the Tathāgata Buddha – the enlightened one – organised Paritran, a ritual of recitation of sutras to end the prevailing famine, diseases, violence and other painful events, and spread peace among all.

In course of the teaching, Buddha told his disciples that Paritran is not a mandatory ritual but one should have belief in the concurrent benefit, and experiment the teachings.

In the 21st century, the Paritran still holds relevance in consideration of the pain and sufferings which has plagued the world.

To end and avert the ongoing instability in the country and sufferings in the aftermath of the massive earthquake which struck on April 25, a week-long Maha Paritran and Dharma Teaching was organised in Patti Bihar of Madhyapur Thimi by Patti Bihar Support Committee through the All Nepal Monk Federation from January 31 to February 6.

“We organised the Maha Paritran wishing for an end to instability in the country and the sufferings in the aftermath of the earthquake, and to avert such scenario in the future,” said Shyam Manandhar, chairman of Patti Bihar Support Committee.

He added saying, “It is also held with wishes that everyone in world will attain peace and disease-ridden people are cured.”

The week-long Maha Paritran started with a procession bearing 108 idols of Buddha which went around various parts of Madhayapur Thimi.

“The procession with cultural musical instruments and with participation from around 1,500 people was held to create awareness among the town residents about Buddha’s teachings and knowledge,” said Manandhar.

On the inaugural day, 16 monks from Monk Federation started the Paritran with recitation of Buddhist sutras (a distinct collection of short aphoristic statements) and gave sermons on Buddha’s teachings.

Committee’s secretary, Dharma Sundar Bajracharya, said the procession was unprecedented in its scale and participation. He added that the Maha Paritran is the third being organised in the Patti Bihar. The first and second Paritran were held more than 20 years ago.

According to Bajracharya, Pari means from outside and Tran means fear and sufferings emanating from various factors in life as from nature and man-made factors. He said Paritran is held by Buddhist families during death of relatives and even in joyous moments as birthdays. The Paritran is held to pray for an end to the sufferings of others.

During the Paritran, which is held for an hour every day, sutras are recited. In the week, a total of 29 sutras were recited as listeners were encircled by a thin thread creating a boundary around them, Bajracharya said.

Every day in the week Bhajan Mandals (religious musical troupes) from various monasteries arrived in Bihar to participate in the Maha Patritran to sing songs and through it impart teachings of Buddha.

The idols of the Buddha were distributed among the families who had managed to donate more than Rs 1,000 as a way to generate fund for the programme.