The Shwedagon Pagoda Board of Trustees has announced plans to hold traditional ceremonies marking the Thadingyut full moon day this October. On the evening of October 25, the eve of the full moon, an oil-lamp offering ceremony will take place at the iconic pagoda in Yangon.

During the ceremony, devotees will carry illuminated, pagoda-shaped lamps around the pagoda platform. In total, approximately 10,000 oil lamps will be lit and offered, creating a vibrant display across the entire platform. The event is intended to honor the significance of the Thadingyut festival, which celebrates the Buddhist tradition of lighting lamps as a symbol of dispelling darkness and ignorance.

An official from the Shwedagon Pagoda Board of Trustees outlined the schedule, noting that the oil-lamp procession will begin at 5 p.m. local time. Following this, the morning of October 26, the full moon day itself—which is observed as Abhidhamma Day—will feature a dawn food offering ceremony. This will be succeeded by the Abhidhamma Day observances, which honor the teachings of the Abhidhamma, an important scholastic text in Theravada Buddhism.

The ceremonies at Shwedagon Pagoda are part of wider customary practices held throughout Myanmar during the Thadingyut festival, which marks the end of the Buddhist Lent and is one of the country’s most significant religious occasions. The oil-lamp offering and Abhidhamma Day ceremonies serve as both devotional acts and community events that attract large numbers of worshippers each year.