Buddhist holidays

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This is a list of holidays and festivals celebrated within the Buddhist tradition.

Contents

Holidays

Festivals

Japanese, Burmese, Tibetan, Indian, Nepalese, Bhutanese, Chakma, Marma and Barua festivals often show the influence of Buddhist culture. Pagoda festivals in Myanmar are one example. In Tibet, India and Bhutan these festivals may include the traditional cham dance.

Lunar New Year festivals of Buddhist countries in east, south and southeast Asia also include some aspects of Buddhist culture, but they are considered cultural festivals as opposed to religious ones.

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See also

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vesak</span> Buddhist festival marking the birth, enlightenment and death of the Buddha

Vesak, also known as Buddha Jayanti, Buddha Purnima, and Buddha Day, is a holiday traditionally observed by Buddhists in South Asia and Southeast Asia, as well as Tibet and Mongolia. It is among the most important Buddhist festivals. The festival commemorates the birth, enlightenment (Nibbāna), and death (Parinirvā

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Loy Krathong</span> Siamese festival

Loy Krathong is a Thai festival celebrated annually throughout Thailand and in nearby countries with significant South Western Tai cultures. The name could be translated as "to float ritual vessel or lamp," and comes from the tradition of making krathong or buoyant, decorated baskets, which are then floated on a river. Many Thais use the krathong to thank the Goddess of Water and River, Goddess Khongkha or to worship the Holy Buddha's hair pagoda in heaven in Buddhist beliefs. This festival traces its origin back to India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asalha Puja</span> Theravada Buddhist festival

Āsāḷha Pūjā is a Theravada Buddhist festival which typically takes place in July, on the full moon of the Āsādha month. It is celebrated in Indonesia, Cambodia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Laos, Myanmar and in other countries with Theravada Buddhist populations. In Indonesia, the festival is centered at Mendut Temple and Borobudur Temple, Central Java.

<i>Vassa</i> Three-month annual retreat observed by Buddhist monastic members

Vassa is the three-month annual retreat observed by Theravada Buddhists. Taking place during the wet season, Vassa lasts for three lunar months, usually from July to October.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vaisakha</span> Month in Hindu calendar

Vaisakha is a month of the Hindu calendar that corresponds to April/May in the Gregorian Calendar. In the Indian national calendar, Vaisakha is the second month of the year. It is the first month of the Vikram Samvat calendar, Odia calendar, Maithili Calendar, Punjabi calendar, Assamese calendar and the Bengali calendar. This month lies between the second half of April and the first half of May.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marma people</span> Ethnic group of Bangladesh, Myanmar and India

The Marma, also known as Moghs, Mogs or Maghs, are the second-largest ethnic community in Bangladesh's Chittagong Hill Tracts, primarily residing in the Bandarban, Khagrachari and Rangamati Hill Districts. They belong to the same community as the Rakhine people. There are three endogamous groups within Magh Community which are known as

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buddha's Birthday</span> Birthday of Siddhartha Gautama

Buddha's Birthday or Buddha Day is a primarily Buddhist festival that is celebrated in most of South, Southeast and East Asia, commemorating the birth of the prince Siddhartha Gautama, who became the Gautama Buddha and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition and archaeologists, Gautama Buddha, c. 563-483 BCE, was born at Lumbini in Nepal. Buddha's mother was Queen Maya Devi, who delivered the Buddha while undertaking a journey to her native home, and his father was King Śuddhodana. The Mayadevi Temple, its gardens, and an Ashoka Pillar dating from 249 BCE mark the Buddha's birth place at Lumbini.

Poya is the name given to the Lunar monthly Buddhist holiday of Uposatha in Sri Lanka, where it is a civil and bank holiday. When earth makes Full Orbit of moon is normally considered as the poya day in Sri Lanka every month.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kaṭhina</span> Theravāda Buddhist festival

Kathina is a Buddhist festival which comes at the end of Vassa, the three-month rainy season retreat for Theravada Buddhists in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, and Vietnam. The season during which a monastery may hold Kathina is one month long, beginning after the full moon of the eleventh month in the Lunar calendar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pavarana</span>

Pavarana is a Buddhist holy day celebrated on Aashvin full moon of the lunar month. This usually occurs on the full moon of the 11th month. It marks the end of the three lunar months of Vassa, sometimes called "Buddhist Lent." The day is marked in some Asian countries where Theravada Buddhism is practiced. On this day, each monk must come before the community of monks (Sangha) and atone for an offense he may have committed during the Vassa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bodhi Day</span> Buddhist holiday

Bodhi Day is the Buddhist holiday that commemorates the day that Gautama Buddha (Shakyamuni) is said to have attained enlightenment, also known as bodhi in Sanskrit and Pali. According to tradition, Siddhartha had recently forsaken years of extreme ascetic practices and resolved to sit under a peepal tree, also known as a Bodhi tree, and simply meditate until he found the root of suffering, and how to liberate oneself from it.

An Uposatha day is a Buddhist day of observance, in existence since the Buddha's time, and still being kept today by Buddhist practitioners. The Buddha taught that the Uposatha day is for "the cleansing of the defiled mind," resulting in inner calm and joy. On this day, both lay and ordained members of the sangha intensify their practice, deepen their knowledge and express communal commitment through millennia-old acts of lay-monastic reciprocity. On these days, the lay followers make a conscious effort to keep the Five Precepts or the ten precepts. It is a day for practicing the Buddha's teachings and meditation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Māgha Pūjā</span> Buddhist festival and day of observance in Southeast and South Asia

Māgha Pūjā is a Buddhist festival celebrated on the full moon day of the third lunar month in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Sri Lanka and on the full moon day of Tabaung in Myanmar. It is the second most important Buddhist festival after Vesak; it celebrates a gathering that was held between the Buddha and 1,250 of his first disciples, which, according to tradition, preceded the custom of periodic recitation of discipline by monks. On the day, Buddhists celebrate the creation of an ideal and exemplary community, which is why it is sometimes called Saṅgha Day, the Saṅgha referring to the Buddhist community, and for some Buddhist schools this is specifically the monastic community. In Thailand, the Pāli term Māgha-pūraṇamī is also used for the celebration, meaning 'to honor on the full moon of the third lunar month'. Finally, some authors referred to the day as the Buddhist All Saints Day.

Lists of holidays by various categorizations.

Pūrṇimā is the word for full moon in Sanskrit. The day of Purnima is the day (Tithi) in each month when the full moon occurs, and marks the division in each month between the two lunar fortnights (paksha), and the Moon is aligned exactly in a straight line, called a syzygy, with the Sun and Earth. Full moon is considered the third of the four primary phases of the Moon; the other three phases are new moon, first quarter moon, and third quarter moon. The full moon shows 100% illumination, causes high tides, and can concur with lunar eclipses.

Here is a list of glossary of Culture of India in alphabetical order:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sand pagoda</span>

Sand pagodas, are temporary pagodas or stupas erected from mud or sand as a means of cultivating Buddhist merit. The practice is common to Theravada Buddhists throughout mainland Southeast Asia, primarily in Myanmar (Burma), Laos, and Thailand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sangrai festival in Bangladesh</span> New Year festival of Marma and Rakhine in Bangladesh

Sangrai is the name of the New Year celebration of the Bangladeshi Marma and Rakhine ethnic groups, which is celebrated from April 13 to 15 every year. Although it is one of the main traditional ceremonies of the Marmas, the Rakhine also celebrate the New Year with their own rules. In the case of the Marmas, it is celebrated according to their Burmese calendar. The calendar of the Marmas is called "Mraima Sakraoy". The Marmaras observe Sangrai as a total of three days, including the last two days of the old year and the first day of the new year. Earlier, according to "Mraima Sacramento", these three days fell in the middle of April of the English calendar, but now they are observed on April 13, 14 and 15 in line with the English calendar. The traditional games of the Marmas are also held on the morning of the 13th with Pangchowai, the main Sangrai on the 14th and the water on the 15th.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Buddhist Holidays 2013". About.com. Archived from the original on February 18, 2017. Retrieved April 28, 2013.
  2. "Why Buddhists Celebrate Nirvana Day - World Religion News". World Religion News. 2016-02-15. Retrieved 2018-10-12.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Festivals and Special Days". Buddhanet. Retrieved April 28, 2013.
  4. Melton, J. Gordon (13 September 2011). Religious Celebrations: An Encyclopedia of Holidays, Festivals, Solemn Observances, and Spiritual Commemorations. ABC-CLIO. p. 4. ISBN   9781598842050.
  5. "Buddhist Holidays". Family Dharma. Archived from the original on December 6, 2017. Retrieved April 28, 2013.