10th May 2017 - The Day Of The Fully Awakened!

Buddha Purnima is a Buddhist festival which celebrates the birth anniversary of Gautam Buddha. It is celebrated majorly in India and the South East Asian countries like Nepal.Buddha Purnima is celebrated every year on the full moon day of Hindu month Vaishakha. This year the festival will fall on May 10. This day is said to be Purnima as Buddha was born on the night of full moon. It is also known as the Vesak day.

Gautama Buddha has always been an inspiration for many. His journey of life is unique and is also difficult to attain.

There was a boy named Siddhartha Gautama who was born in Nepal during 6th to 4th century BC. From the beginning, he was predicted to be either a great King or a great Spiritual leader. Being born into a royal family, his father wanted him to lead the kingdom and hence kept him away from all the sorrows and miseries of the world. One fine day he happened to visit a city and saw different kinds of people and situations which made him curious about the true meaning of existence. At a young age, he left everything to embark a journey of self-discovery and hence reformed as the great Gautama Buddha and found enlightenment.

Significance Of Buddha Purnima

• This is the day when Lord Buddha was born as ‘Siddhartha Gautama’.
• He left the world and all its pleasures on this day in search of self-discovery.
• He attained enlightenment on this day and became the one who is ‘fully awake’.
• It is believed that Buddha Purnima carries the creation of nine out of 10 favorable conditions termed as mahayog. Hence this day seems to be quite auspicious in terms of astrological significance as well.

Rituals Of Buddha Purnima

• The Buddhist followers celebrate this day as the years most important hours. They dress up all in white on this day and do not consume nonveg food.
• They start by paying a visit to the Viharas and practice their Buddhist Sutra.
• People prepare kheer and share it others as a woman named Sujata had offered Lord Buddha a bowl of milk porridge.
• As per the Hindu traditions, Vaishakh Purnima holds a very high significance for making donations and a holy dip in river Kshipra.
• Pandit Vyas said that ideally, this occasion should be celebrated from Mohini Ekadashi to Budha Purnima. There is a legend goes behind this significance as lord Vishnu incarnated as Mohini and fed nectar to demigods.
• People decorate the Bodhi tree on the occasion of Budha Purnima and pour water in its roots to gain enlightenment.

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I have a keen interest in Religion and Mythology. My favorite past time is to research and find out all the dark and weird secrets our ancestors had. I also work for a religious and spiritualism promoting website www.rgyan.com