Buddha Purnima (16/05)

Today in India the holiest holiday of the Buddhist calendar is celebrated —, the birthday of Buddha (Buddha Purnima), the founder of Buddhism. In India, it falls on the full moon day at the end of April — May, and it is an officially approved holiday in the country.

According to legend, Buddha was born on this day in 623 BC, on the same day he achieved enlightenment and in 543 BC. died on the same day, reaching complete nirvana. Thus, all three most important events in the life of the Buddha are celebrated simultaneously.

Shakyamuni Buddha, also known as Siddhartha (own name) and as Gautama (family name). He was the son of Shuddhodan from the Gautam family, Shakyas (hence Shakyamuni — « hermit from the Shakyas» tribe). Born in the village of Lumbini (now Nepalese territory). After the birth of his son, at the age of 29, Prince Siddhartha left secular life and went in search of the Truth. Asceticism and asceticism did not lead him to his goal. Then he chooses «Medium path».

At the age of 35, sitting on a kush grass mat under a sacred banyan tree on the banks of the Ganges in the place where the city of Bodh Gaya is now located, he suddenly achieves enlightenment (bodhi) and becomes Buddha, i.e. «enlightened». He appeals to self-contemplation, self-knowledge and self-improvement of the soul, for this is the only way to escape suffering in the world of vain passions, since everything in it is mortal, and, ultimately, to achieve the goal of life — of liberation from rebirth. At the same time, self-denial should not turn into cruelty. Hence the Buddhist preaching of peace, the denial of sacrifices.



Three centuries after the death of the Buddha during the reign of Emperor Ashoka, Buddhism became the dominant religion of India. Ashoka, having established Buddhism in his vast empire, sends missionaries to neighboring countries. Buddhism is gradually spreading in Ceylon, Burma, Central and Central Asia. Then he in the 1st century AD. penetrates China, in the 4th century AD. — to Korea and Japan, in the 5th century AD. — to Indonesia and finally in the 8th century AD. — to Tibet, turning into a world religion. In India itself, however, Buddhism, after initial successes in rivalry with Jainism and Hinduism (until the 4th century AD), was forced to gradually give way to the main religion —, Hinduism.

Pilgrims from all over the world come to Bodh Gaya to take part in the celebration. They recite prayers, preach and conduct religious discussions, recite the scriptures of Buddhism, meditate and worship the Buddha statue.

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