The “Four-Faced Buddha’s Holy Birthday Celebration Ceremony” was held yesterday afternoon at the Four-Faced Buddha Shrine, located in front of the Macau Jockey Club in Taipa.
Organised by the Four-Faced Buddha Holy Birthday Organisation Committee and co-organised by the Association of Thais in Macau, the Macao-Thailand Chamber of Commerce and the Macau Jockey Club, the annual event was attended by delegates from the Royal Thai Consulate-General in Hong Kong.
According to a statement by the organiser, the ceremony prayed for world peace, economic prosperity and residents’ happiness. The organisation said it hoped to bring about the enhancement of moral support for Thai people in Macau and the reinforcement of Thai-Macau relations through this religious activity.
According to Wikipedia, the Four-Faced Buddha is colloquially also known as “Phra Phrom”. Each head represents a different aspect of the deity and each side of Phra Phrom offers different blessings. Worshipers of the divinity usually offer incense, candles and jasmine flowers in their worship, usually placing these offerings in front of all four heads of “Phra Phrom”.
In Thailand, the Four-Faced Buddha’s Holy Birthday is celebrated on November 9 every year.
The statement added that the organiser had invited various cultural associations and monks from Thailand to perform traditional Thai chanting in order to worship Buddha. The chanting ended at 10 p.m. yesterday.
Worshipers light candles at the Four-Faced Buddha Shrine in Taipa yesterday.
– Photo courtesy of The Macao News
