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Buddha Poornima April 30,

Buddha Poornima

This day about 2600 years ago marked the beginning of a new world religion - Buddhism. Gautham Siddhartha (BC 623 - 544), the crown prince of the kingdom of Kapilavasthu, had renounced his kingdom and was in meditation searching for the cause of sorrow in the world. On the pournami (full moon) day of the month of Vaisakhi (April/May) he was enlightened, and he became the Buddha - the enlightened one.

The Bodhi tree, under which the great saint realised that 'desire was the cause of sorrow', in Bodhgaya district of Bihar then became a famous pilgrim centre.

Buddhism was brought to Kerala in the third century BC and left its mark on the state. The Vadakkumnatha temple, Thrissur and the Siva temple at Madavoorppara near Thiruvananthapuram bear evidence of having been Buddhist shrine. The temple architecture, the Sastha cult, serpent worship, festival processions and even the Malayalam language show the influence of Buddhism. The greatest relic of Buddhism in Kerala, however is the 11th century Buddha statue - Karumadikuttan - at Ambalappuzha in the Alappuzha district of south Kerala.

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