State PCS
Thadingyut, the festival of lights marking the end of the Buddhist Lent, is celebrated in which country?
Answer (Detailed Solution Below)View answer ▾Hide ▴
Answer: Option C — Myanmar
Detailed Solution
Thadingyut, also known as the Festival of Lights of Myanmar, is one of the most important festivals of Myanmar. It is celebrated on the full moon day of the Burmese month of Thadingyut, which usually falls in October, and the celebrations last for three days.
Thadingyut marks the end of the Buddhist Lent (Vassa), a three-month period of the rainy season, during which Buddhist monks stay in their monasteries and devote themselves to study and meditation, and many lay Buddhists observe stricter religious practices and avoid weddings and celebrations. The end of this period is celebrated with joy.
According to Buddhist tradition, Thadingyut commemorates the return of the Buddha from the heaven of the Thirty-Three Gods (Tavatimsa), where he had spent the rainy season preaching the Abhidhamma (the higher teachings of Buddhism) to his mother, who had been reborn there. To welcome the Buddha back to the earth, the gods and people lit the path with lights. This event is celebrated in Sikkim and Tibet as Lhabab Dhuechen.
During Thadingyut, homes, streets, monasteries and pagodas across Myanmar are decorated with candles, oil lamps, colourful paper lanterns and electric lights, creating a beautiful sight. People visit monasteries to offer food and robes to the monks and pray. An important custom is paying respect to elders, teachers and parents. Younger people bow to them and offer gifts of fruits and other items, asking forgiveness for any wrongs done during the year, and the elders bless them. Many weddings take place after Thadingyut, as the Lent period is over.
Other festivals of Myanmar include Thingyan (the water festival and New Year, in April), Tazaungdaing (another festival of lights, in November) and the Kachin Manaw Festival (January).
Why not the other options?
- ✗Thailand celebrates Songkran and Loy Krathong.
- ✗Sri Lanka celebrates Vesak and the Esala Perahera.
- ✗Bhutan celebrates the tsechu festivals.
Quick tip
Remember: Thadingyut = Myanmar, the festival of lights at the end of the Buddhist Lent (October) and the Buddha's return from the heaven of the Thirty-Three Gods.
💬 Discussions on this question
Ask a doubt ›Still stuck on this question? Ask our faculty and fellow students — answers appear here.
Ask a doubtMore Festivals & Fairs of India Questions
View all ›- Q1.The Sarhul festival of Jharkhand, celebrated with traditional dances when the sal trees blossom, is especially associated with which tribe?
- Q2.'Chad Sukra', a popular traditional dance festival of the Pnar (Jaintia) people of Meghalaya, is celebrated as a:
- Q3.Which festival, celebrated in Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh, honours Gogaji, the folk deity worshipped as a protector against snakes?
- Q4.The 'Doul Utsav', a celebration of Holi linked with the Vaishnava satras, is mainly celebrated in which state?
- Q5.The Bhagoria festival of the Bhil tribes of Madhya Pradesh is associated with which major festival?
More General Knowledge Questions
- Q1.The techniques of Rasa and Bhava used in Indian classical dance trace their origin to which ancient text?Indian Dance Forms
- Q2.Lavani, Powada, Koli, Waghya Murali and Dhangari Gaja are folk dances of which state?Indian Dance Forms
- Q3.The one-act play associated with the Sattriya tradition of Assam is called:Indian Dance Forms
- Q4.Which dance form of Goa is known as the 'Warrior Dance'?Indian Dance Forms
- Q5.Manipuri dance is based on the Rasleela themes of:Indian Dance Forms
Festivals & Fairs of India — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Festivals & Fairs of India, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers the religious, harvest, tribal and cultural festivals of India, the fairs (melas) held across the country, and the states, communities and seasons linked to them. It also includes festivals listed by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage, such as Kumbh Mela and Durga Puja in Kolkata. Most questions ask which state celebrates a festival, which tribe it belongs to, or what event it marks. Harvest festivals are especially common: Pongal (Tamil Nadu), Onam (Kerala), Bihu (Assam), Lohri and Baisakhi (Punjab) and Nuakhai (Odisha). Fairs such as the Pushkar camel fair (Rajasthan) and the Sonepur cattle fair (Bihar) are also frequently tested. Revise festivals state by state. Practise the festivals and fairs questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.