Buddha Purnima is a festival celebrated by Buddhists and other devotees of birthday. This festival marks the Buddha’s birthday and it falls each year on the full moon that occurs in May.
As such, the actual day of the festival will vary from year to year – in 2018, for instance, it is on May 22nd. Buddha Purnima in India is an official (i.e. ‘gazetted’) holiday which is marked up and down the country. Government offices, schools and many businesses close for this holiday so that people can celebrate.
This festival is important in India particularly, because Gautama Buddha lived and taught in India. No one knows precisely where he lived, and the exactly time in which he lived is not precisely certain. It is known, however, that Buddha lived in India between the 6th century BCE and the 4th century BCE.
By Laura