City Mayor AJM Nasir Uddin has warned against the conspiracy in home and abroad to foil the communal harmony in the country and asked the citizens to remain alert against the such conspiracies.
He was addressing the candle lighting and air balloons opening programs at Chittagong Buddha Mandir at Nandankanan in city on Tuesday evening as chief guest.
He said the people of all religions are enjoying equal rights in all respect and the people irrespective of religions played vital role for emergency of Bangladesh during liberation of Bangladesh.
Buddhists in the city and district here celebrated their second largest festival Prabarana Purnima, with traditional enthusiasm and due solemnity on Tuesday .
The festival is also known as Ashvini Purnima that marks conclusion of the three months long seclusion of the monks inside their monasteries for self edification and atonement of their defilement. The Purnima follows a month-long preaching of sermons by the Buddhist monks for the welfare of every beings and whole humankind through a month long yellow robes offering ceremony that begins from tuesday.
According to the legend, Buddha once clipped some strands of hair from his head and said that if he were qualified to attain supreme wisdom and enlightenment, the hairs would not fall down but go up instead, in the long run which they did.
To mark this event, the Buddhists released candle light air balloons made of coloured paper and set free to flow towards the sky in the evening which is the chief attraction of the festival.
The Purnima was celebrated in all monasteries, respective offices of the religious organisations and educational institutions through daylong programmes.
The day’s programmes heralded with hoisting of the national and religious flags atop all monasteries in the dawn and chanting of the sacred verses from the Tripitaka.
Breaking of fasting of the monks, mass prayer, blood donation, sangadana, discussions, Panchashila and Pradip Puja were other highlights of the programmes.
