Buddhists all over the world celebrate Buddhism Holidays in honor of their god, Buddha. Most of these festivals and holidays are done in commemoration of the important events in Buddha’s life. These are joyful and colorful events which are based on the lunar calendar and may differ depending on the country’s tradition.

A typical Buddhism festival normally starts by visiting the local Buddhist temple. The believer then offers food to the Buddhist monks and listens while a Dharma talks. Aside from food, other items can also be offered. In the afternoon, the food will be distributed to poor remnants and then, the participants will walk around the temple three times as a sign of honoring the Three Jewels. That will then be followed by chanting and meditation.

The most significant Buddhism holidays all over the world.

The Buddhist New Year is probably the most well-known Buddhism holiday. However, the days of the celebration vary in some parts of the world. Vesak is Buddha’s birthday celebration and is considered as the most significant festival in Buddhism. It is celebrated during May’s first full moon. Buddhists around the globe celebrate Buddha’s birth and death on the same day.

Other significant Buddhism holidays are Dhamma Day or Asalha Puja Day, (July) wherein Buddha first delivered his first sermon at Samath Deer Park, Observance Day or Uposatha, Kathina Ceremony or Robe Offering Ceremony, the Festival of Floating Bowls or Loy Krathong, Elephant Festival (3rd Sunday of November), the Festival of the Tooth, Ancestor Day or Ulambana and Obon, which is the Japanese Buddhist festival.

Some of the countries which sit the largest proportion of Buddhists are:

• Thailand (which is the highest at 95%),
• Cambodia,
• Myanmar,
• Bhutan,
• Sri Langka,
• Tibet,
• Laos,
• Vietnam,
• Japan,
• Macau,
• and Taiwan.

On the other hand, countries which have the highest Buddhist population are:

1. China (with an approximate of 102,000,000),
2. Japan,
3. Thailand,
4. Vietnam,
5. Myanmar,
6. Sri Lanka,
7. South Korea,
8. Taiwan,
9. Cambodia
10. and India.

He is held to be one of the ten incarnations (avatars) of Lord Vishnu who came to the world to rid it of pain and suffering and teach people the lesson of peace, love and tolerance. He came here at a time when common people had forgotten the teachings of the Vedas and were held in the clutches of the priests who had usurped the power to behave in an anarchical manner. Animal and human sacrifices were rampant and people were duped in the name of religion.

Biographical

Buddha was born in B.C. 563 and died at the age of eighty in B.C. 483. He was born to King Suddhodhan and Queen Mayadevi in the small kingdom of Kapilvastu, in northern India (presently in Nepal). One night the queen saw a white elephant entering her womb and that very night she conceived Buddha, a child who was a pure and powerful being. On his birth a seer predicted that he would either become a great king or a great saint and chances were that he would become the latter. He warned the king to keep the child away from pain and suffering or else he would leave all worldly possessions and become an ascetic.

The king tried his best to shield his son from distress and misery even going to the extent of marrying the sixteen year old Siddhartha to Yashodhara. One day, at the age of 29, on his way round his kingdom Siddhartha came across an old man, a dead body and a sick man and learnt that the world was not the rosy place he had been led to believe. He also saw a monk and found out that the saint had left all earthly desires in the search of greater truth. These things had a profound effect on Siddhartha. He left home in search of answers and traveled a long time before he settled himself under a Bodhi tree and gained enlightenment.

Buddhism

After attaining enlightenment, Buddha traveled far and wide spreading the message of love and truth, through the length and breadth of northern India. More and more people came under his influence and became his followers, so much so that his own son, Rahul followed his father and became a monk.

Buddha’s followers practiced non-violence and spread the message of peace and came to be known as Buddhists. The religion they followed came to be known as Buddhism.