History
Lord Buddha was born on the Full Moon day in the month of Vaisakh, million years ago in 563 BC. Buddha Mahotsav is held every year at Sarnath, Varanasi to celebrate the birthday of Lord Buddha. Buddha Purnima is also known as Buddha Jayanti and celebrated by the people with the huge traditional and religious passion. Buddha Purnima is held in the month of Vaisakh (means April or May).
He got enlightenment and nirvana (salvation) at the same day he was born. That’s why, this day is also marked as the death anniversary of the Gautam Buddha.
Buddha Purnima 2016
Buddha Purnima 2016 would be celebrated by the people on 21st of May, at Saturday.
Buddha Purnima 2015
Buddha Purnima 2015 was celebrated by the people on 4th of May, at Monday.
Buddha Purnima 2014
Buddha Purnima 2014 was celebrated by the people on 14th of May, at Wednesday.
Significance of Buddha Mahotsav
Sarnath is a famous tourist place in the Varanasi and has great importance in the Buddhism as Gautam Buddha has given his first sermon at Sarnath. A huge fair is held at Sarnath on this occasion of Buddha Jayanti and the remnants related to him are taken out side for the public display.
There are some other places besides Sarnath such as Gaya, Kushinagar and some other parts of India, where the Buddha Mahotsav is celebrated with great passion every year. Buddha Mahotsav has become the center of attraction at the day of Buddha Purnima that attracts large crowds of Buddhist people from each corner of the world. At this day, Buddhists make pray and worship the statue of Gautam Buddha at different Buddhist temples in Sarnath.
Sermons and reading of the Buddhist scriptures are another significant spiritual activities carried out by the devotees at Sarnath. They put forward fruits, flowers, candles, etc in front of the statues of the Lord Buddha according to their beliefs and customs. Decoration of the whole area at Sarnath with the earthen lamps takes place in the evening of the day.
Buddha Mahotsav was first started at the Sarnath in the year 1998 by the UP tourism and Ministry of Tourism of Government of India. K. R. Narayanan was the president of India at that time and he had inaugurated the mahotsav.