KUALA LUMPUR: Devotees thronged Buddhist temples yesterday to celebrate Wesak Day.

Many lit lamps, burnt incense and offered flowers and water at the temples.

The lit lamps symbolise wisdom, while darkness symbolises ignorance.

The burning of incense and the offering of flowers and water are likened to good virtues, impermanence and a pure mind.

In Subang Jaya, about 30,000 devotees thronged the Subang Jaya Buddhist Association (SJBA).
More than 3,000 oil lamps lined the right entrance of the association while the left entrance was packed with devotees queuing to pay homage to the Buddha.

The association also held a mass meditation and blood donation drive.

SJBA president Chim Siew Choon said that during Wesak, devotees would donate at least 150 litres of blood.

"There are also booths to collect donations for the cyclone victims in Myanmar and to enable devotees to pledge their organs."

Present were SJBA patron Datuk Tan See Hang, Kelana Jaya Member of Parliament Loh Gwo-Burne, Subang Jaya state assemblyman Hannah Yeoh and Sri Varatharaja Perumal Temple chairman Jayabalam Mooken.

In Kuching, Deputy Works Minister Datuk Yong Khoon Seng was among those who offered prayers at the Sarawak branch of the Malaysian Buddhist Association in Jalan Tun Abdul Razak.

A lantern and float procession was also held in the city centre in the evening. It started and ended at Padang Merdeka.

In Ipoh, some 4,000 devotees thronged the Enlightened Heart Buddhist temple in Ampang. The crowd was double that of last year and many devotees came from Johor Baru, Penang and Kuala Lumpur.

Many took the opportunity to run under a 55.4m canvas painting of the Buddha, which is unique to the temple.

The sunning of the painting follows a tradition in Tibet of the sunning of carpets to absorb the sun's power.

Chief priest Ge Li Rinpoche, 68, said this was to rid them of bad karma.

The celebration began with devotees bathing a statue of Buddha in a pond.

In George Town, monks and thousands of devotees prayed and observed a one-minute silence for the victims of cyclone Nargis in Myanmar and the earthquake in Sichuan, China.

The event was held at the Malaysian Buddhist Association in Jalan Burmah here.

Among those attending were Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng and Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Seri Ong Ka Chuan

Later, Lim and Ong joined more than 10,000 devotees in a two-hour-long float and candlelight procession.

More than 20 Buddhist organisations took part in the 7km procession, involving 23 floats which carried statues and images of the Buddha.

Groups of young people performed cultural dances along the route.

The theme for this Wesak is "Creating Harmonious Society with Compassion and Equality".