Buddhist holidays

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

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<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, Buddha Day, is a holiday traditionally observed by Buddhists in South Asia and Southeast Asia, as well as Tibet and Mongolia. It is the most important Buddhist festival. The festival commemorates the birth, enlightenment (Nibbāna), and passing (Parinirvāna) of Gautama Buddha in Theravada, Tibetan Buddhism and Navayana.

<i>Parinirvana</i> Nirvana upon death for someone who has attained nirvana during their lifetime

In Buddhism, parinirvana is commonly used to refer to nirvana-after-death, which occurs upon the death of someone who has attained nirvana during their lifetime. It implies a release from Saṃsāra, karma and rebirth as well as the dissolution of the skandhas.

<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.

Guru Purnima is a religious festival dedicated to offering respect to all the spiritual and academic gurus. It is celebrated as a festival in India, Nepal and Bhutan by Hindus, Jains and Buddhists. This festival is traditionally observed to honour one's chosen spiritual teachers or leaders. It is observed on the full moon day (Purnima) in the month of Ashadha (June–July) according to the Hindu Calendar. The festival was revived by Mahatma Gandhi to pay tribute to his spiritual guru, Shrimad Rajchandra. It is also known as Vyasa Purnima, for it marks the birthday of Veda Vyasa, the sage who authored the Mahabharata and compiled the Vedas.

<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">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. Full moon day is normally considered as the poya day in every month.

Parinirvana Day, or Nirvana Day is a Mahayana Buddhist holiday celebrated in East Asia, Vietnam and the Philippines. By some it is celebrated on 8 February, but by most on the 15 February. In Bhutan, it is celebrated on the fifteenth day of the fourth month of the Bhutanese calendar. It celebrates the day when the Buddha is said to have achieved Parinirvana, or complete Nirvana, upon the death of his physical body.

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

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.

Abhidhamma Day is a Theravada Buddhist tradition celebrated primarily in Myanmar. Abhidhamma Day celebrates Gautama Buddha's descent from Tāvatiṃsa heaven after teaching his mother the Abhidhamma.

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

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bachhala (month)</span> Seventh month of the Newa calendar

Bachhalā is the seventh month in the Nepal Era calendar, the national lunar calendar of Nepal. The month coincides with Vaisakha (वैसाख) in the Hindu lunar calendar and May in the Gregorian calendar.

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.