Buddha Pūrṇimā, known across Asia as Vesak, is called the Thrice Blessed Day. Tradition holds that Siddhārtha Gautama was born at Lumbinī, where Queen Māyādevī gave birth standing and holding a sal branch in a garden on the way to her parents' home. Thirty-five years later, on the same Vaiśākha full moon, he attained enlightenment under the pipal tree at Bodh Gayā and became the Buddha, the awakened one. At eighty, again on this full moon, he passed into parinirvāṇa at Kuśīnagar between two sal trees, and the meeting of all three events on one tithi gives the day its weight across Theravāda and Mahāyāna lands alike. How the day is fixed: Buddha Pūrṇimā is kept on the day when the Vaiśākha full moon prevails at local sunrise. Keep in mind: Because it is the full moon itself, the day carries the same month name in calendars that end the month at the new moon and in those that end it at the full moon. The full moon is read at local sunrise, so the date can differ by one day between places. This year: The 2027 date shown here is worked out from sunrise at the place you chose, so in another city the same day can fall a day earlier or later. At the vihāra: Devotees visit a vihāra or stūpa and offer flowers, incense and candles before the Buddha image. White clothing is customary for the day. Precepts and giving: Many take the Aṣṭa Śīla, the eight precepts, for the day and give alms to the monks. Where a Bodhi tree stands, scented water is poured at its roots. Across Buddhist lands: Vesak is a public holiday and a major festival in Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand and other Theravāda countries. The United Nations recognises it as an international day of observance. Worth remembering: Buddha Pūrṇimā marks three events of one life, not only the Buddha's birthday. In Hindu homes the same Vaiśākha full moon is also kept as a day of holy bathing and charity, which is a separate custom that happens to share the date. Theravāda and Mahāyāna communities keep the day in their own ways, and each vihāra has its own order of chanting, offerings and processions. Families who are not Buddhist may simply visit a stūpa, give alms, or keep the full moon with a bath and charity. Whatever the form, the surest guide is what the elders of one's own house have followed.
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