A devotee knelt and gently touched his head on the dome of the Boudhanath Stupa, an iconic Buddhist monument in Kathmandu, as a mark of reverence on Thursday, which marks Buddha’s birth.
Buddha’s birthday is a sacred occasion for all Buddhists, but is celebrated on different dates depending on the Buddhist school or country.
In many parts of Asia, the holy day marks not only the birth, but also the enlightenment and death of Buddha. In most Asian cultures and the diaspora, Buddhists go to temples and participate in chanting, meditation and festivities throughout the day. Families decorate their homes with lanterns and gather for celebrations.
The highlight of the celebration in South Korea is the lotus lantern festival called Yeondeunghoe, a parade of thousands of colorful, illuminated paper lanterns, often in the shape of lotus flowers, that are hung in temples and streets of Seoul.
In Cambodia, novice monks wearing saffron robes joined elders seeking alms. Devotees gathered around the banyan tree, considered sacred, and watered it in Myanmar.
In India, Buddha’s birthday, also called Buddha Purnima, is marked as a national holiday, as in many other Asian countries.
At the headquarters of the Tibetan government-in-exile in Dharamshala, northern India, Tibetan Buddhist monks sat cross-legged on the ground and chanted prayers as devotees lined up to offer prayers.
In Ipoh, Malaysia, devotees unveiled a giant sacred ‘Thangka’ cloth measuring 60 by 12 meters as devotees walked beneath it to receive blessings and rejuvenate their minds and spirits.
Sri Lankan revelers decorated houses and streets with candles, paper and bamboo lanterns. Festivities include devotional songs and the burning of incense.
And in Borabadur, monks released lanterns that lit up the night sky above the largest Buddhist temple in the world.
