Grand Vajrakilaya Puja May 28 - June 5

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Event : Grand Vajrakilaya Puja
Date : May 28 - June 5 2011 (Saturday - Sunday)
Venue : Sakya Tenphel Ling
Address : 5, Pasir Ris Drive 4, Singapore 519455
Map :
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Website : http://www.sakyatenphelling.org/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Programme :

28 May Saturday (Day 1)
2.30am – 9.30am Kilaya Puja before Sand Mandala Drawing
9.30am onwards Drawing of the Holy Sand Mandala

May 29 Sunday to June 4 Saturday
8.00am – 12.00n The Great Vajrakilaya Drubcho (Day 2 to Day 8)
4.00pm – 8.00pm ending with Tsok Offering (7pm - 8pm)

Jun 5 Sunday (Final Day)
8.00am – 12.00n The Great Vajrakilaya Drubcho (Day 9)
2.30pm – 6.30pm ending with Grand Tsok Offering

Vajrakilaya Puja has long unbroken lineage within the Sakyapa. Vajrakilaya Puja was received by Khön Nagendra Rakshita and his younger sibling Vajra Ratna from Padmasambhava. Since then it has been transmitted in the Khön lineage and has been enacted every year until the present. Even in the challenging times of 1959 His Holiness the Sakya Trizin maintained the tradition.

Khon Nagendra Raksita, who was a fully ordained Buddhist monk and great translator, and his younger brother Vajra Ratna, who was a householder, both received the Vajrakilaya empowerments and teachings directly from Guru Padmasambhava.

Ever since that time, the main deities practiced by the Khon lineage have been the two deities Vajrakilaya and Yangdag Heruka (Visuddha or Vajra Heruka). The place where the Khon lineage members resided was called the Palchen Phodrang, or ‘ Palace of Great Glory ’, which also refers to Vajrakilaya.

All Sakya monasteries in Tibet are painted in three colors: primarily blue with white and red stripes. It is believed that these three colors were the original colors of the Palchen Podrang palace of the Khon lineage. These three colors symbolize the three faces of Vajrakilaya.

The reason why the Vajrakilaya ritual is performed during the seventh lunar month is to commemorate Ngachang Kunga Rinchen’s (1517-1584) activities. There was a period during which Sakya monasteries went through very difficult times, degenerated, and indeed almost became extinct. Then Ngachang Kunga Rinchen, one of the Sakya throne holders, revived the school by re-building the temples and re-establishing the whole system. Since that time, the Vajrakilaya ritual has been performed during the seventh month to commemorate and repay the kindness of Ngachang Kunga Rinchen, who worked so tirelessly to revive the order.

The Vajrakilaya ritual begins with a very elaborate dance to bless the earth and related earth rituals. After that a sand mandala is created, and the vajra master and monks incorporate the sand mandala into the ritual practice everyday, and receive self-empowerment from it.

The seventy-five kilaya, (ritual pegs or stakes) that are part of the Vajrakilaya ritual mandala must be made according to exact specifications. This is an important aspect of the ritual. In Rajpur, His Holiness directed the creation of a mold, which was cast in Delhi . The sets of kilaya made from this mold are used in monasteries in both India and Tibet .

An awe-inspiring and somewhat wrathful sacred dance occurs at the end of the month. Finally the sand mandala is dismantled on the first day of the eighth month in a very elaborate and grand ritual. During the ritual, the deity Vajrakilaya appears in wrathful form as the manifestation of all the Buddhas' activity to subdue obstacles. It is believed that by participating in the ritual, all obstacles for the entire year will be cleared away. Therefore many people come to see the mandala, and to receive the blessings of being present during the ritual.

Read more at : http://www.hhthesakyatrizin.org/teach_vajrakilaya.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;