Vesākha = name of ancient Indian month usually in April/May - Pali Dictionary

Pūjā = homage / honorable / respectful - Pali Dictionary

Buddhist cultures all over the world will celebrate by visiting local temples, doing good deeds, meditating and bringing offerings for people to share. Homes may be decorated with lanterns and people may wear white clothes during the celebrations.

Three major events happened on Vesākha, marking 3 of the 4 holy Buddhist pilgrimage sites.

• On the Full Moon of Vesākha, the Bodhisatta, not yet a Buddha, was born as Siddartha Gautama, after his mother had an unusual dream predicting his birth. He did not come out onto this via the birth canal, and was soon after predicted to either be the greatest Wheel-Turning Monarch or the greatest Religious Leader of the World.

• (Lumbīni Garden - Currently in Lumbīni, Nepal)

• On the Full Moon of Vesākha, the Bodhisatta Siddartha Gautama was born as a fully-self-enlightened being, while sitting in meditation, without moving from his seat, under a Bodhi Tree for 49 days.

  (Ghaya - Currently in Bodh Gaya, India)

• On the Full Moon of Vesākha, the Buddha Gautama attained Mahāparinibbāna so that his body would pass away between 2 great Sal Trees. Through this attainment, he would never again, come to be reborn.

  (Kusinagara- Currently in Kushinagar, India)

Buddhism is not a theistic religion, meaning there is no single god who created the world. Instead, most commonly Buddhists follow the teachings of a man called Siddhartha Gautama, known as the Buddha, who was born in Nepal in 5 B.C

Gautama believed that material things did not cause happiness and spent his life travelling as a homeless man to witness the suffering of the world. After years of travel, extremely austere practices, intensive meditation practices, he became spiritually aware and reached enlightenment. From this he earned the title of the Sammā Sambuddha, meaning “the Rightly Self-Awakened One”.

We would like to wish a happy Vesākha (Vesak) Day to all our fellow Buddhist practitioners and monks and nuns celebrating.