Buddha's Birthday
Buddha's Birthday is held on May 15. Buddhist festival - 灌仏会 - Matsuri, which is held in Japan. It is also referred to as Hana Matsuri, "Flower Festival". This event in the second decade of the month May is annual. Help us
The Buddha's Birthday is an important day of celebration for Buddhists around the world. The holiday is traditionally celebrated in most of East Asia to commemorate the birth of the Prince Siddhartha Gautama. He is the founder of Buddhism, and is also known as the Gautama Buddha. The Buddha was born into the royal family around 563/480 BCE in Nepal. After six years of ascetic practice, Siddhartha attained full enlightenment at the age of thirty five. As a result he became known as Buddha, or the awakened one. He died at the age of eighty in India. The exact date of Buddha's birthday is based on the Asian lunisolar calendars. It is primarily celebrated in Baisakh month of the Buddhist calendar and the Bikram Sambat month of the Hindu calendar. The date varies from year to year in the Western Gregorian calendar. However, it usually occurs in April or May and in leap years it may be celebrated in June.
Similar holidays and events, festivals and interesting facts
The first day of Sanja Matsuri can fall in Sensō-ji, Tokyo on May 19 (celebrated on the third weekend of May);
Japan Day in Düsseldorf on May 25 (date for 2024. Celebrated on the last Saturday of May);
Navy Anniversary Day in Japan on May 27 (海軍記念日, Kaigun Kinen'bi. It was in commemoration of the Battle of Tsushima - May 27–29, 1905);
Kimono Day in Japan on May 29 (Gofuku No Hi)