Khuree Maitreya Procession
Tour Description
The coming of Maitreya Buddha is something that is believed to happen in the future. Therefore, Maitreya is the Buddha of the future. This is still the time of the teachings of the Buddha Shakyamuni. Of the thousand Buddhas of this eon, the present Buddha, Buddha Shakyamuni, is the fourth of these Buddhas and he’s been preceded by the Buddha Kashyapa and two other Buddhas, the first and the second, and the Buddha Maitreya will be the fifth of the 1,000.
According to the accounts of early foreign tourists and explorers, there was a great statue of the future Buddha Maitreya, which is predicted to arrive in Ikh Khuree (or Ulaanbaatar, the current capital city of Mongolia). It was built by Dharma King Luvsankhaidav, known as Jadar Abbot Agvaankhaidav, by the initiation of Luvsanchültimjigmed, the 5th Jebtsundamba Khutughtu, in the year of 1834. Unfortunately, as a result of the political and religious persecucion of Mongolia in the early 20th century, all religious activities were banned, monasteries and temples were forced to close and often destroyed, in order to build new buildings in their place. The earlier Maitreya temple was destroyed in 1943 for construction of new, non-religious buildings.
Khuree Maitreya Procession ritual was restored back by the Zuun Khuree Dashchoiling monastery in its original form and is an interesting event that worth to attend. Maitreya returns to create benefits for the numberless sentient beings of six realms of the samsara.
Preparations begin two weeks before the festival as the monks who make the sculptures make green horse and elephant out of wood and paper and wish fulfilling jewel (Chantamani) for the Maitreya.
It is an half a day (4 hours) event.
Itinerary
Khuree Maitreya parade
The golden Maitreya statue is respectfully taken out from the main temple by the abbot and head monks along with texts while the rest of the sangha community chant and mantra and burn incense. Then the monks offer 7 royal symbols, 8 auspicious symbols and 5 pleasant offerings to the Maitreya Buddha standing at the cart. It is the start of the ritual. The Maitreya Buddha sat on horse and carries wish fulfilling jewel on its back, is circumambulated around the exterior wall or perimeter of the monastery, in the cart pulled by monks. The monks standing in line according to their ranks play conch, drum and other instruments, chant prayers, and hold yellow umbrella on head of the Maitreya Buddha.
Usually the Maitreya statue is paraded around the monastery clockwise and then returned to its normal place in the appropriate temple and we will follow the parade. You can pray for the well being of your family and friend, in further all sentient beings as rejoicing the ritual.
The sense behind parading the statue of Maitreya around the periphery of the monastery is to remind the faithful to ‘keep the faith’ and ensure that Maitreya returns only in statue form once a year to underscore the importance of the Dharma and the word of Buddha.
Maitreya composed a short prayer of love, and he has been practicing and reciting this prayer always, and likewise, many others will have said this prayer and this situation of how things will come about at this future time will be the result of all these prayers of love. If now at this present time we follow very well the teachings of the Buddha Shakyamuni, then it has a special feature that we will be reborn among the first of the disciples in the future of the Buddha Maitreya.
The ritual lasts for about 1 hour and half. Be part of this meaningful ceremony!
Full explanation will be provided along with tour around the monastery.
Orientation about the Maitreya Procession ritual
A brief introduction to be given by the event organising monks.
After the orientation, we will attend the specfic Maitreya praise and prayer puja chanting. This prayer chanting last for an hour and half or two hours. You can make offering to rejoice the chanting for the health and wellbeing of your beloved ones and the entire sentient beings.
Customer Reviews
Highlights
- Maitreya, future Buddha returning ritual parade
- Orientation around the Dashchoiling monastery
- Join prayers for the wellbeing of your family and friends and entire universe.
Tour Dates
2024
- 2023-05-22 - 2023-05-22
2025
Price Per Person
- 4-10 pax: 20 USD
- 11-20 pax: 18 USD
- 21-50 pax: 15 USD
- 21-50 pax: 15 USD
What’s Included
- Full explanation of the ritual in English
- Breakfast
- Monastery tour
What's Excluded
- Transportation
- Health insurance
Tour Map
