Vesak Day Photos In Sri Lanka

Tags: Events, Festivals, South Asia, Travel Pictures

The month of May in Sri Lanka is a colorful one, filled with blossomed violet-pink May flowers and colorful lanterns. Buddhists all over the world celebrates this most important religious event – The Vesak Day in May. This is to commemorate Lord Buddha’s birth, enlightenment and passing into nirvana. Vesak day falls on the full moon in May and is celebrated in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Macau, Malaysia, Nepal, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand.

Photos of Vesak Lanters & More

Vesak Lantern | (c) Photo By Uvais

Main activities include children and adults making paper lanterns, which are lit up in every house, shop and streets, and visiting temples to pay their respects to Lord Buddha. Other than lanterns, huge displays called Thorana (pandols) containing stories of Lord Buddha are shown to the public. Furthermore, groups of people such as neighbors, families, shop owners etc. get together and provide soft drinks to full meals to ice cream etc., free of charge to passers by, all given in good spirits to follow Lord Buddha’s teachings. In some areas, we can see children singing Buddhist teachings, much similar to Christmas carols. Almost everyone in Sri Lanka, irrespective of their religion, go to observe the beauty of Vesak and eat from free food stalls, which are called Danasala. This holiday is the most colorful and holiest festival in the Buddhist calendar.