MAGHA PUJA.
Magha Puja celebrates an occasion in the Buddha's time when on the Full Moon of the ancient lunar month of Magha there was a huge spontaneous gathering of monks who the Buddha himself had personally ordained. There were one thousand, two hundred and fifty of them and all of them were Arahants. They gathered in Wat Veluvana, the Bamboo Grove, which had been offered by King Bimbisara as the first Buddhist monastery. Above the Bamboo Grove, the Buddha was staying on the Vulture's Peak. He came down to Veluvana and sat with these monks who had assembled to see him and recited for them the Ovada Patimokkha, which contains the memorable verse, ' Avoid all evil, cultivate the good and purify your mind. This is the teaching of the Buddhas.' And then said that the Ovada Patimokkha should be recited whenever the Sangha is gathered on the full and new moons. Later that gave way to the fortnightly recitation of the Patimokkha rules. Magha Puja this year falls on Monday, February 9t