Friday, May 8, 2009

Visakha Bucha Day

Visakha Puja Day marks the three important incidents in the life of Buddha on the same day; The full moon of the sixth lunar month.

The three significant separate event are :

Buddha's Birth - Buddha was born into a royal warrior clan in the Lumbini Garden, in an area of Northern India known today as Nepal) In the morning of the Vesak full moon day, 80 years before the Buddhist Era. He was named Siddhattha five days after his birth.

Enlightenment of Buddha - While sitting under the Bodhi tree, he found his answer and attained the enlightenment at the age of 35 years at Uruvelasenanigama subdistrict, Magadha state, (nowadays, located in the area of Buddha Kaya, Bihar State, India), on Wednesday, the Vesak full moon day, the zodiac of the cock, forty five years before the Buddhist Era.

The Nibbana - Buddha passed away on Tuesday, the Vesak full moon day in the zodiac year of the small snake under the two Sal trees in the Sala Grove of the Mallas in Kusinara, the capital of the Malla state, (nowadays located in Kusinagara of Uttrarapradesa, India) at the age of eighty years (around 2547 years ago).

Visakha Puja (Vesak) means the worship of the Buddha on the full moon day of the sixth lunar month. It usually falls in May. In the case of a year with an extra eighth lunar month--Adhikamasa (there are 13 full moons in that year)-- the Visakha Puja Day falls on the full moon day of the seventh lunar month.

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