Buddha Jayanti

In the simplest words, Buddha Jayanti is a celebration to commemorate the birth of Lord Buddha. But what many people may not know is that Buddha Jayanti marks the celebration of three different events in Buddha's life: His birth, attainment of enlightenment and passing away into Nirvana (or to put it less glamorously, his death). All three events took place on a full moon day of Baisakh according to the Nepali calendar. This is the reason why Buddha Jayanti is celebrated on the full moon day of Baisakh (the first of 12 months in the Nepali calendar). Just like Buddha's life and teachings, nothing elaborate is done on Buddha Jayanti. Butter lamps decorate and brighten the monasteries and nonvegetarian items are avoided. In many cases Kheer (milk porridge) is served to recall the story of Sujata, a maiden serving Lord Buddha a bowl of milk porridge when Buddha finally decided to give up the path of ascetic extremism for the Middle path. This day is also celebrated with great vigour in the Kathmandu valley, especially in Swayambhunath and Bouddhanath Stupas. If you do intend to attend one here are the dates for the next five years: 2017: 11 May, Friday 2018: 30 May, Thursday 2019: 18 May, Monday 2020: 8 May, Saturday 2021: 26 May, Thursday