According to the Ministry of Public Administration, Duruthu Poya is celebrated on Saturday 10 January. However, the Full Moon dawns on Sunday 11 January at 03:28 UT, which is around 9am Local Time.
16 hours before the Full Moon, that is at 09:28 UT (13:58 Local Time on Saturday 10 January), the Moon will be at it's Perigee 357,500 km away from Earth.
This will be the biggest and brightest Full Moon for 2009.
I have posted some information about the Lunar Cycle, Apogee, Perigee, New Moon and Full Moon schedule of 2009.
Sri Lankan Buddhists celebrate Full Moon Days with religious significance. Following is a note written by a friend of mine about Duruthu Poya. Appreciate the significance of the Duruthu Poya, as the Buddha visited Sri Lanka to mediate a dispute between Yakka and Naga tribes.
Duruthu Poya
By Yadamini Gunawardena
Though, for Astronomical Millennia’s man has observed rise and set of the Sun and all the different phases of the Moon, it was never more meaningful until the Full Moon Day of the Month of Vesak (or May) some 2632 years ago when there was born a Sakyan Prince Siddhartha Gauthama in Kapilawatsu. Siddhartha Gauthama was destined to become the greatest teacher the world ever came to know. On his own knowledge he became the Buddha-the enlightened one on a Full Moon Day of Vesak in his thirty-fifth year. Since, his life was recorded, for the next forty-five years, from one Full Moon to the next, up until his Parinibbana, during which period he worked for the well being and happiness of all living beings-then and now-leaving to his disciple the doctrine and discipline as their only teacher.
Duruthu (or January) Full Moon (or Poya) day is significant to all Buddhists, and especially to Sri Lankans. As it is believed, on the eighth Full Moon in the very first year of the great Enlightenment, the Enlightened One-the Buddha visited the Island of Lanka. Gauthama the Buddha arrived in Mahiyangana (situated North of Central Hills in Sri Lanka) from the Himalayas to eliminate evil and uncanny relations between tribes of Yakka and Naga.
On the Full Moon Day of Duruthu, the Buddha made his first visit to Sri Lanka, the island that was foreseen as the destined and rightful place for his teachings to splendor. After appeasing the two tribes a deliberation of his teachings saw a following of many in the noble path and also the attainment of the state of sowan (entering into the path of salvation) by Lord Sumana of Sri Pada area of Seethawaka. The enlightened one installed a handful of hair as relic in hands of rulers of these tribes to be enshrined into a monument of reverence. Later, this became the Mahiyangana Thupa (or pagoda).
This visit by the Gauthama Buddha was made some 2597 years ago. Hence, the Duruthu Full Moon Day of 2012 will be of great significance to Sri Lanka as we celebrate the 2600th Buddha Jayanthi of Gauthama Buddha's First Visit to Sri Lanka. It is important to note that this was the very first visit made by the Buddha to a distant land away from the soils of Central India. Also, at present Duruthu Poya is vibrantly celebrated in pageantry and serenely observed with meritorious deeds in Kelaniya (situated in Coastal West of Sri Lanka), a city blessed by the Buddha in his third visit to the Island of Lanka.
May this light up the rightful path!
Following is an English translation of the account extracted from Mahavamsa
"... the Conqueror, in the ninth month of his Buddhahood, at the Full Moon of Phussa, himself set forth for the isle of Lanka, to win Lanka for the faith. For Lanka was known to the conqueror as a place where his doctrine should (thereafter) shine in glory, ... And he knew also that in the midst of Lanka, on the fair river bank, in the delightful Mahanaga garden... The prince of Devas, Mahasumana of the Sumanakuta mountain, who had attained to the fruit of entering into the path of salvation, craved of him who should be worshipped, something to worship. The Conqueror, the (giver of) good to living beings, he who had pure & blue-black locks, passing his hand over his (own) head, bestowed on him a handful of hairs. And he, receiving this in a splendid golden urn, when he had laid the hairs upon a heap of many-coloured gems, seven cubits round, piled up at the place where the Master had sat, covered them over with a thupa of sapphire & worshipped them" - Mahavamsa
Lunar Cycle
Source: NASA - Lunar Prospector
The revolution of the Moon around the Earth causes the Moon to appear to change shape in the sky. These different shapes are called "phases" of the moon. The Moon passes through a cycle of eight phases every 29.5 days. There is no definite starting point for the cycle, but phases follow one behind the other in a strict order.
- Waxing Crescent
The visible moon is partly but less than one-half illuminated by direct sunlight while the illuminated part is increasing. - First Quarter
One-half of the moon appears illuminated by direct sunlight while the illuminated part is increasing. - Waxing Gibbous
The Moon is less than fully illuminated but greater than half illuminatedby direct sunlight while the illuminated part is increasing. - Full Moon
The visible moon is fully illuminated by direct sunlight. - Waning Gibbous
The Moon is less than fully illuminated but greater than half illuminatedby direct sunlight while the illuminated part is decreasing. - Last Quarter
One-half of the moon appears illuminated by direct sunlight while the illuminated part is decreasing. - Waning Crescent
The visible moon is partly but less than one-half illuminated by direct sunlight while the illuminated part is decreasing. - New Moon
The visible moon is not fully illuminated by direct sunlight.
Apogee and Perigee
According to Kepler's First Law of Planetary Motion, the Moon's orbital path around Earth is an ellipse with Earth as one of the foci. This implies that there should be a point where the Moon is closest and where the Moon is furthest from Earth. The closest point is called Perigee and the furthest is called Apogee.
Apogee, Perigee, New Moon and Full Moon Days of 2009
Source: John Walker - Lunar Perigee and Apogee Calculator
Perigee Apogee
--------------------------------- ---------------------------------
Jan 10 10:53 357500 km + F- 16h Jan 23 0:12 406115 km - N-3d 7h
Feb 7 20:09 361486 km F-1d18h Feb 19 17:01 405131 km N-5d 8h
Mar 7 15:08 367019 km F-3d11h Mar 19 13:17 404301 km N-7d 2h
Apr 2 2:32 370013 km N+6d10h Apr 16 9:17 404231 km F+6d18h
Apr 28 6:28 366041 km N+3d 3h May 14 2:58 404914 km F+4d22h
May 26 3:45 361154 km N+1d15h Jun 10 16:05 405785 km + F+2d21h
Jun 23 10:40 358017 km N+ 15h Jul 7 21:40 406232 km ++ F+ 12h
Jul 21 20:17 357464 km -- N- 6h Aug 4 0:43 406026 km + F-2d 0h
Aug 19 4:54 359641 km N-1d 5h Aug 31 11:05 405267 km F-4d 4h
Sep 16 7:57 364053 km N-2d10h Sep 28 3:34 404431 km F-6d 2h
Oct 13 12:29 369067 km N-4d17h Oct 25 23:19 404166 km N+7d17h
Nov 7 7:31 368899 km F+4d12h Nov 22 20:08 404734 km N+6d 0h
Dec 4 14:13 363478 km F+2d 6h Dec 20 14:55 405730 km N+4d 2h
New Moon Full Moon
---------------------- ----------------------
2009 Jan 11 3:28
2009 Jan 26 7:56 2009 Feb 9 14:50
2009 Feb 25 1:37 2009 Mar 11 2:38
2009 Mar 26 16:08 2009 Apr 9 14:56
2009 Apr 25 3:24 2009 May 9 4:02
2009 May 24 12:12 2009 Jun 7 18:12
2009 Jun 22 19:36 2009 Jul 7 9:22
2009 Jul 22 2:35 2009 Aug 6 0:56
2009 Aug 20 10:02 2009 Sep 4 16:04
2009 Sep 18 18:45 2009 Oct 4 6:12
2009 Oct 18 5:33 2009 Nov 2 19:15
2009 Nov 16 19:14 2009 Dec 2 7:32
2009 Dec 16 12:03 2009 Dec 31 19:14