Buddha's Birthday
Next: May 13, 2027
Lanterns lit, and the baby Buddha bathed.
The story
Where it comes from
Across much of East Asia, Buddhists celebrate the birth of the Buddha on the eighth day of the fourth lunar month, usually in May. Legend says that when Prince Siddhartha was born, nine dragons appeared in the sky and bathed him in streams of fragrant water. The day is kept in South Korea, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. Hong Kong made it a public holiday in 1999, its only traditional Chinese religious holiday, and in the same year Taiwan made it a national day of commemoration.
How it's celebrated
Temples set out a small statue of the baby Buddha in a basin of water and flowers, and visitors ladle scented water over it, a way of washing away greed, anger and delusion. In Hong Kong the biggest crowds gather at Po Lin Monastery on Lantau Island, where monks cook vegetarian meals. In Korea, streets and temples fill with lotus lanterns, and crowds carrying handmade lanterns join a great parade, the Yeondeunghoe.
Did you know
- UNESCO added Korea's lantern festival, Yeondeunghoe, to its list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2020.
- Korea's lantern festivals go back about 1,200 years: the Samguk Sagi, a history of Korea's Three Kingdoms, records Silla's King Gyeongmun visiting Hwangnyong Temple to view lanterns in 866.
- Since 2001 the Cheung Chau Bun Festival in Hong Kong has been fixed to the same day, so its parade and bun towers fall on Buddha's Birthday.
The greeting
Happy Buddha's Birthday · 부처님 오신 날을 축하합니다
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