Buddha Purnima 2020: Date, significance, history and why it's celebrated

Buddha Purnima, also known as Buddha Jayanthi, marks the birthday of Lord Buddha. The auspicious occasion of the birth of Gautama Buddha—founder of Buddhism, is celebrated annually and this year, it falls on May 7, Thursday.

Buddha Purnima 2020

According to the Hindu Pachang, Lord Buddha was born on the full moon day of Baishakh month. The annual celebrations are organised on the basis of this date.

The festival of Buddha Purnima is celebrated by both Hindus and Buddhists across India and other Asian countries.

The Hindus believe Buddha to be the incarnation of Shri Hari Vishnu. The day is also known as Siddha Vinayaka Purnima or Satya Vinayaka Purnima.

The shubh muhurat (auspicious time) for Buddha Purnima, according to religious scholars, starts at 7.44 pm on May 6 and concludes at 4.14 pm on May 7.

History of the day

The most prominent belief regarding Gautama Buddha and Buddhism is the tale of Prince Siddhartha, who at one midnight, left all this luxury life, and family pleasures to go in search of 'nirvana.'

According to the Theravada Tripitaka scriptures, Prince Gautama was born in Lumbini, now in Nepal around 563 BCE.

At a young age of 29, Gautama had his vision of what the Buddhist scriptures now call as the four sights. The scriptures state that Buddha then saw the suffering of a common man, an old man, a sick person, a dead body and finally an ascetic holy man, who was content in life.

These visions were powerful enough to compel the young prince to leave his comfortable royal life behind and move ahead on the spiritual path leading to enlightenment and the ultimate nirvana.

Buddha Purnima Significance

Hinayana and Mahayana are the two major sects of Buddhism under which come the other smaller sects.

The followers of Hinayana sect believes that Gautama Buddha was an ordinary men not God who found the way for nirvana. While Mahayana worships the bodhisattvas.

The Buddhists commonly are vegetarians. On the day of the Buddha Purnima, the devotees engage in colourful processions from their communities to the pagodas.

They pour water at the foot of the Bodhi Tree (sacred tree). In addition to this, they give alms to the poor and needy and practice meditation by observing the eight precepts.

Due to the strict lockdown measure, all sorts of visits to the pagodas and prominent Buddhist religious spots including Mahabodhi Temple, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, located in Bihar is forbidden. It is the site where Gauthama is said to have attained enlightenment.