VESAK POYA

The most important Buddhist festival celebrates, on the day of the full moon, three major events in the life of Buddha: his birth (in Lumbini, Nepal), his enlightenment in Bodhgaya (in Bihar, India), and his passage into parinirvana (his death, in Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh, India). Buddhists go to temples to listen to the teachings of the Buddha, meditate and make offerings. In addition to religious and cultural events, Sri Lankans decorate their homes and streets with colorful lanterns, called vesak koodu.