Hanamatsuri or "Flower Festival" is a service of rejoicing in which we commemorate the birth of Sakyamuni Buddha with the decorating of a flower pavilion and the rite of Bathing the Body of the Buddha. (Kanbutsu)
   The Buddha was the only child of King Suddhodana Gautama and Queen Maya of Sakya Kingdom. Ruling from the capital city of Kapilavastu, the King and Queen were childless for some 20 years. Then one day, after having a dream of a  white elephant with six tusks entering her side, the Queen become pregnant. According to the custom of the time, Queen Maya was returning to her parent's home to await the birth of the baby when she stopped to rest in a garden called Lumbini.  In the middle of the summer season, the garden was mysteriously in full bloom.  As the Queen reached up to touch the blossoms of the Asoka Tree, the baby was born from her right side.  The earth shook in six directions and a light, sweet rain fell from where and fell from the sky to bathe the body of the baby.  Flowers bloomed every pointed his right hand to the sky and his left had to the earth, and spoke the following words:

"Above and below the heavens, I alone, am the World-Honored One."

    For the service, a flower-decorated shrine known as a hanamido or "flower pavilion" is set up in front of the Naijin, representing Lumbini Garden.  The Hanamido is often set upon the back of a figure of a white elephant, recalling Queen May's dream. In the center of the flowerdecorated shrine is placed a small statue of the infant Siddhartha in a bowl of Amacha or "sweet tea."  The Amacha is made from the dried leaves of the Hydrangea hortensis, a bush found in abundance in the mountain region of the orient.  This is the original sweetener of the Japanese before the introduction of sugar.
    The bathing the Buddha image was a popular festival ritual practiced in India and China.  It has been practiced in Japan since the Nara Period.

   Bodhi Day is the day that the Prince Siddhartha become the Buddha at the age of 35.
   Siddhartha left his home in search of Truth, even though he had every material thing he could desire in life, Yet he was not satisfied with his life. After diligently practicing all manner of ascetic disciplines, including starving himself to the point of death in order to gain control over his body, he rejected the ascetic path and took food again. He realized that one could not think clearly and have a healthy mind without a meditation. According to the Mahayana tradition, in the early morning hours of December 8th, Siddhartha became the Buddha the Awakened One, the Perfectly Enlightened One. By his example, he showed us that it was possible for a man to become a Buddha, a fully enlightened person. We are therefore in possession of this potentiality, this Buddha-nature, which, when awakened and cultivated, will enable us to achieve the same Enlightenment.