Bālanakkhatta

A festival lasting for seven days, during which people smeared their bodies with ashes and cow dung and went about talking coarsely. They respected no one, and when they visited at a house where their conversation was not appreciated, they received one penny to go away. Once when the festival was being held in Sāvatthi, the Buddha's followers requested him not to leave the monastery, and provided him and the monks with all requisites so that they did not have to go out. DhA.i.256 f.

Dictionary of Pali Proper Names, G P Malalasekera (1899-1973), which is available as printed version from