Festival · 2027

Buddha Purnima 2027 — Thursday, 20 May 2027

Buddha Purnima is the full Moon of Vaishakha, when Buddhists remember the birth, the awakening and the passing away of Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha.

In 2026

Friday, 1 May 2026

Tithi: Purnima: 30 Apr, 9:13 PM – 1 May, 10:53 PM
Lunar month: Vaishakha
Sunrise / sunset: 5:40 AM / 6:56 PM

Rule: Vaishakha Purnima at sunrise; if it touches no sunrise, the day it begins.

In 2027

Thursday, 20 May 2027

Tithi: Purnima: 19 May, 4:03 PM – 20 May, 4:29 PM
Lunar month: Vaishakha
Sunrise / sunset: 5:27 AM / 7:07 PM

Rule: Vaishakha Purnima at sunrise; if it touches no sunrise, the day it begins.

Times follow New Delhi’s sunrise and sunset. In other cities the muhurat shifts by some minutes, and occasionally the day by one. Full festival calendar

What is Buddha Purnima?

Buddha Purnima, also called Buddha Jayanti and, across much of Asia, Vesak, is the most important day of the Buddhist year. In the Theravada tradition it marks three events that are held to have happened on the same full Moon of the month of Vesakha: the birth of the prince Siddhartha in the Lumbini grove, his awakening under the Bodhi tree at Bodh Gaya, and his final passing, the parinirvana, at Kushinagar some eighty years after his birth.

The life story comes from the Buddhist texts themselves. The Pali Canon, the scripture of the Theravada schools, describes the awakening, the first teaching at the Deer Park in Sarnath, known as the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta or the turning of the wheel of the teaching, and the last journey in the Mahaparinibbana Sutta of the Digha Nikaya. Later biographies such as the Buddhacarita of Ashvaghosha retell the birth, the renunciation and the long search in poetic form.

The places of that life are still living places of pilgrimage. Lumbini lies in present-day Nepal; Bodh Gaya in Bihar has the Mahabodhi Temple beside a descendant of the original Bodhi tree; Sarnath near Varanasi keeps the Dhamekh Stupa where the first teaching is remembered; and Kushinagar in Uttar Pradesh has the Mahaparinirvana Temple with its reclining image. The emperor Ashoka marked several of these sites with pillars and stupas, and his inscriptions are among the oldest written records in India.

For Buddhists the day is one of remembrance and practice rather than celebration alone: keeping the precepts, giving, and reflecting on the teaching of the end of suffering. Some Hindu texts, among them the Bhagavata Purana and Jayadeva’s Gita Govinda, also count the Buddha among the avatars of Vishnu, and the same full Moon is Kurma Jayanti in Hindu almanacs. This page describes the day with respect for the Buddhist tradition to which it first belongs.

How it is observed

Visiting a vihara or temple, offering flowers, candles and incense before the image of the Buddha.
Taking the five precepts, and for many lay followers the eight precepts for the day and night.
Listening to a sermon, chanting suttas and spending time in meditation.
Giving: food to monks and nuns, meals to visitors and help to those in need.
Pilgrimage to Bodh Gaya, Sarnath, Kushinagar or Lumbini, where large gatherings pray through the day.
Keeping the day gentle: many eat only vegetarian food and avoid harming any living being.
In some traditions, pouring scented water over a small image of the infant Buddha to recall his birth.

How the date is fixed

Our calendar keeps Buddha Purnima on the day when the Purnima tithi of the month of Vaishakha is current at sunrise. If the full-Moon tithi begins after one sunrise and ends before the next, so that it touches no sunrise at all (a kshaya tithi), we give the day on which it begins. Please note that Buddhist countries use their own calendars. Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand and others fix Vesak by their own lunar reckoning, and in some years their date is a day away from the Indian one, or even a whole month apart when an extra month has been added in one calendar but not the other.

Where practice differs

In India the day is a public holiday, and the largest gatherings are at Bodh Gaya, Sarnath and Kushinagar, in Sikkim and Ladakh, and among the Ambedkarite Buddhists of Maharashtra, for whom Buddha Jayanti is a major community day. Nepal marks it at Lumbini and in Kathmandu. Sri Lanka lights streets with Vesak lanterns and roadside stalls called dansal give free food and drink. Tibetan Buddhists keep Saga Dawa, a whole month of practice whose full Moon marks the same events. In Japan and Korea the Buddha’s birthday is kept separately, on dates from their own traditions.

Dates and times are computed by our own engine (sunrise, tithi and kalas for New Delhi, Lahiri ayanamsa). In another city, or in an almanac of another tradition, the day can differ by one — follow your family’s tradition.

Questions people ask

What is celebrated on Buddha Purnima?

In the Theravada tradition, the birth of Siddhartha Gautama at Lumbini, his awakening at Bodh Gaya and his parinirvana at Kushinagar, all remembered on the full Moon of Vaishakha. Other Buddhist schools may remember some of these events on other days.

Is Buddha Purnima the same as Vesak?

Yes, it is the same festival. Vesak comes from Vesakha, the Pali form of Vaishakha. The date can still differ by a day or a month between India and other Buddhist countries, because each follows its own calendar.

Why is Bodh Gaya so important on this day?

Bodh Gaya is where the Buddha is said to have attained awakening under the Bodhi tree. The Mahabodhi Temple there draws monks, nuns and lay pilgrims from across the world, and the day is spent in chanting, meditation and offerings.

Do Hindus also observe Buddha Purnima?

Many do, as a day of reverence, and some Hindu texts count the Buddha among the avatars of Vishnu. In Hindu almanacs the same full Moon is also Vaishakha Purnima, a day for bathing and giving, and Kurma Jayanti.