 Lotus Lantern Festival celebrating Buddha's Birthday, in South KoreaBuddha's Birthday, the birthday of the Gautama Buddha traditionally celebrated in East Asia on the eighth day of the fourth month in the Chinese lunar calendar, is a holiday in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and South Korea. The date varies from year to year in the Western Gregorian calendar:
- 2005: May 15
- 2006: May 5
- 2007: May 24
- 2008: May 12
- 2009: May 2
- 2010: May 21
- 2011: May 10
- 2012: April 28
In Korea, there are lantern parades and many people visit Buddhist temples.
In Japan, Buddha's Birthday is celebrated on April 8. Also known as 'Flower Festival' (Japanese: Hana-matsuri or Kanbutsu-e), it is not a national holiday. Children traditionally drink ama-cha, a beverage prepared from a variety of hydrangea.
Some places have a public holiday one week later, on the fifteen day of the fourth month in the Chinese lunar calendar, to coincide with the full moon. For instance, Visakha Bucha in Thailand or Lễ Phật đản in Vietnam is such a holiday on May 12 in 2006. (For future dates, add 7 days to the above list.)
The birth of the Buddha (Buddha Purnima in India) is often celebrated by Buddhists for an entire month. Please see Vesak for details.
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