Lhabab_Duchen
Lhabab Duchen
Buddhist festival, public holiday in Bhutan and Sikkim, India
Lhabab Düchen (Tib. ལྷ་བབས་དུས་ཆེན་, Wyl. lha babs dus chen) is one of the four Buddhist festivals commemorating four events in the life of the Buddha, according to Tibetan traditions. Lhabab Düchen occurs on the 22nd day of the ninth lunar month according to Tibetan calendar. It is widely celebrated in Tibet and Bhutan. The festival is also celebrated in other Buddhist Asian countries, including Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand and Laos, where it is celebrated a few weeks before the Tibetan and Bhutanese version.
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Lhabab Duchen is a Buddhist festival celebrated to observe the Buddha's descent from the Trāyastriṃśa heaven down to earth, one of The Eight Great Events in the Life of Buddha.[1]
According to legend, the Buddha ascended the Trāyastriṃśa heaven temporarily at the age of 41, in order to give teachings to benefit the gods in that desire realm, and to repay the kindness of his mother by liberating her from Samsara.
He was exhorted by his disciple and representative Maudgalyayana to return, and after a long debate and under a full moon agreed to return. He returned to earth a week later by a special triple ladder prepared by Viswakarma, the Hindu-Buddhist god of machines.
On Lhabab Duchen, the effects of positive or negative actions are multiplied ten million times. It is part of Tibetan Buddhist tradition to engage in virtuous activities and prayer on this day.[citation needed]
