Buddha Jayanti - (Festivals in India)

Bakri-Id - Festival of Sacrifice - Muslim
Buddha Jayanti - Buddha's Birthday - Buddhist/Hindu
Diwali - Festival of Light - Hindu
Dussehra or Dusshera - Lord Ram - Hindu
Guru Nanaks Birthday
Holi - Festival of Colour - Hindu
Kumbh Mela - Festival of the Pot -Hindu
Meelad-Id - The prophet Muhammed's birth and death - Muslim
Onam - South Indian celebration of good over evil - Hindu
Rakhi - Sibling closenes - Hindu/Many

Buddha Jayanti - Buddha's Birthday

 

Prince Siddharth born around 543 BC on Buddha Poornima, the full moon night in Vaisakha (according to the Hindu calendar that usually falls in April or May). He is believed to have lived a very sheltered life 'till the age of 29. Under his father's instructions he was kept completely ignorant of the tragedies of everyday life. Once he persuaded one of his charioteers to take him out of the palace walls and was shocked to see the harsh realities of life. He saw an old man, a sick and disabled person and a dead body for the first time in his life. His fourth vision was of an ascetic who looked at peace with himself. This led Siddharth to search for the true meaning of life, renounce the luxury and worldly pleasures and look for enlightenment. He wandered to many places and ultimately attained nirvana in Bodhgaya under a banyan or 'pipal' tree. Since then he is known as Gautam Buddha or the 'Enlightened One'.

 

He was the founder of the Buddhist religion and is said by Hindu's to be the ninth avatar of Vishnu. Buddha Jayanti celebrates the three most important events in Gautam Buddha's life. It was on Buddha Poornima that was born, attained enlightenment and left the mortal world. Nirvana was achieved ultimately after preaching the five principles of life and the path of eight-fold truth. Pilgrims from all over the world come to Bodh Gaya in India to participate in the Buddha Poornima celebrations that highlight prayer meets, sermons and religious discourses, recitation of Buddhist scriptures, group meditation, processions and worship of the statue of Buddha.