On March 25th, 2012 at 06.00 hrs., Hon. Jarupong Ruangsuwan, Minister of Transport, chaired over the ceremony of alms offering to 30,000 monks to commemorate the 2,600th year anniversary of the Lord Buddha’s enlightenment and the completion of the nationwide 1,000,000 monks alms offering project at Wongwian-Yai. The ceremony was presided over by Most Ven. Phrapromdilok, abbot of Wat Sam Praya, Ecclesiastical Regional 14 Governor and member of Sangha Supreme Council of Thailand. The event was supported by the Office of the Prime Minister, Ministry of Culture, Bangkok Metropolitan Police, Royal Thai Police, Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, Office of National Buddhism, World Fellowship of Buddhist Youth, Wat Phra Dhammakaya Temple, Dhammakaya Foundation and 40 affiliated organizations. The dry food received from the alms giving will be packed and transported to help monks from 286 temples and, laypeople in the areas that are experiencing unrest in the southern provinces of Thailand, namely Songkhla, Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat. While this project was conducted in 2011, over 200 trucks of dry food with total gross weight of 2,400 tons were sent to Southern Thailand and 400,000 relief packages were also sent to 30 flooded provinces This event was a part of the project of alms offering to 1,000,000 monks in 77 provinces across Thailand. The project was initiated in 2008 with the cooperation of Thai Sangha community, Buddhist organizations, as well as many public and private sectors. There have already been over 450 alms offering events with the total number of 900,000 monks receiving alms offering since the inception of the project up until February 2012. The organizing committee decided to arrange six alms offering ceremonies to 100,000 monks in March this year to commemorate the 2,600th year anniversary of the Lord Buddha’s enlightenment and to reach the goal of offering alms to one million monks.

Programme

06.00 hrs. - Hon. Jarupong Ruangsuwan, Minister of Transport lights incense and candles.

• Representative offers fragrance and flower to the presiding monk.
• Pledging of Buddhist Vows.
• Requesting the Five Precepts.
• Ceremonial Chairperson delivers opening speech.
• Handover dry food to monks in 4 provinces of Southern Thailand.

06.30 hrs. - Recitation of the verse for food offering. Most Ven. Phrapromdilok, abbot of Wat Sam Praya, Ecclesiastical Regional 14 Governor and member of Sangha Supreme Council of Thailand gives sermon. 07.00 hrs. - Monks receive the offering of food. 08.30 hrs. - End of ceremony.