vesak festival essay in english grade 9

Essay on Vesak Festival

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100 Words Essay on Vesak Festival

What is vesak festival.

Vesak Festival, also known as Buddha Day, is a special day for Buddhists around the world. It is the day when Buddhists celebrate the birth, enlightenment, and passing away of the Buddha.

When is Vesak Festival Celebrated?

Vesak Festival is usually celebrated on the full moon day of the fourth month in the Buddhist calendar. This usually falls in May or June.

How is Vesak Festival Celebrated?

Buddhists celebrate Vesak Festival in many ways. Some people go to temples to pray and meditate. Others decorate their homes with flowers and lights. Many people also give gifts to their friends and family. Some Buddhists also take part in special parades and processions.

250 Words Essay on Vesak Festival

Vesak festival: a celebration of buddha’s life.

Vesak is an important festival celebrated by Buddhists all over the world. It is a day to commemorate the birth, enlightenment, and passing away of Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism. This day is also known as Buddha Purnima or Buddha Jayanti.

Observing Vesak

On Vesak, Buddhists visit temples and monasteries to offer prayers, light candles, and make offerings of flowers and fruit. They also participate in meditation, chanting, and listening to teachings from monks and nuns. In some countries, people decorate their homes and streets with lights and flowers. They also hold processions and parades featuring floats, music, and dancing.

Significance of Vesak

Vesak is a time for Buddhists to reflect on the teachings of Buddha and to renew their commitment to following his path. It is also a time to celebrate the life of someone who brought enlightenment to the world. Buddhists believe that by celebrating Vesak, they can generate good karma and create a more peaceful and compassionate world.

Vesak in Different Countries

Vesak is celebrated on different dates in different countries, depending on the lunar calendar followed. In Sri Lanka, it is celebrated on the full moon day of May. In Thailand, it is celebrated on the full moon day of May or June. In India, it is celebrated on the full moon day of April or May.

Vesak is a beautiful and meaningful festival that celebrates the life and teachings of Buddha. It is a time for Buddhists to come together and share their faith and devotion.

500 Words Essay on Vesak Festival

Vesak Festival is a very important day for Buddhists all over the world. It marks the birth, enlightenment, and death of Gautama Buddha. This makes Vesak a day filled with joy, reflection, and peace. People celebrate it on the full moon day of the month of May. Because the moon is full, it is a special sign that it is time to remember the teachings of Buddha.

How People Celebrate Vesak

On Vesak day, Buddhists start their celebration early in the morning. They go to temples to pray and remember the life of Buddha. Many people also dress in white clothes. Wearing white is a way to show they are pure and are thinking about peace and kindness on this day.

Temples and homes are decorated with beautiful lanterns and colorful lights. The lights are a symbol. They mean that the wisdom of Buddha is like a light that takes away darkness or confusion. In some places, people also make lanterns and let them fly into the sky or float on water. This is a beautiful sight to see.

Another important part of Vesak is helping others. Buddhists believe in doing good things and being kind to all living beings. On Vesak, they give food to the poor and help those who need it. They also take care not to harm any animals. This is their way of showing love and respect for all life, just as Buddha taught.

Special Events During Vesak

In many countries, there are unique events that happen only during Vesak. For example, in Sri Lanka, there is a big parade called the Vesak Perahera. This parade has dancers, drummers, and decorated elephants. It is a way to show respect for Buddha and share the joy of the festival with everyone.

In other places, people might walk around a temple or a special statue of Buddha. They do this as a way to think about Buddha’s journey to find enlightenment. It is a quiet and peaceful activity that helps people feel closer to the teachings of Buddha.

The Meaning of Vesak for Buddhists

Vesak is not just a day for fun and celebration. It is a time for Buddhists to think deeply about their lives and how they can follow Buddha’s teachings. They think about how to be kind, how to live in peace with others, and how to be wise in their choices.

For Buddhists, Vesak is a reminder that everyone has the potential to find enlightenment, just like Buddha did. It is a day to feel hopeful and to work towards being the best person one can be.

Vesak Festival is a special day that brings together joy, reflection, and kindness. It is a time when Buddhists all over the world remember the life and teachings of Buddha. Through prayers, acts of kindness, and beautiful celebrations, they show their respect and love for Buddha. Vesak reminds everyone of the importance of peace, wisdom, and compassion in their lives.

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• Winner 2018: Vesak Day

Vesak Day My Favourite Festival

Essay writing competition 2018 category: 12 - 15 years - winner -.

Winner is "Vesak Day" written by Nuthara Karunarathna. 

Nuthara lives in Sri Lanka and is a learner at Lyceum International School in Panadura. Below you will find Nuthara's award-winning essay. Here she will tell you how she celebrates the holiday with her family and what makes this day so special.

What and when is Vesak Day?

Vesak Day is a celebration of the Full Moon and a Buddhist festival. Celebrated by Buddhists around the world, this religious holiday celebrates the birth of Buddha.

The next Vesak Day will be celebrated on 23 May 2024.

We sit before the altar at home and quietly chant our prayers in a soft song. The little Buddha statuette in the center looks down kindly on us, and a basket of fresh flowers sit before the statuette. Incense wafts over to us from the joss sticks stuck into the pot of sand. Before the altar, a clay lamp burns with a single bright flame.

A symbol of joy, of light, deliverance and peace. Later in the night, we will go out, my parents and sister and I, and walk through the streets admiring the houses lit with hundreds of paper lanterns and tiny lights and the candles hanging from the trees. We will smile in recognition when we see the Buddhist flag – red, yellow, blue, orange and white – hanging beside every gate. We will mingle with the throng that fills the streets tonight, and it will not be dark in any corner because everybody is celebrating this holy day, and proclaiming our joy with light and decoration.

This is our holy day, which we call Vesak, the day in which our Bodhisattva prince was born and when he attained enlightenment and became the Lord Buddha. This is the full moon day in which He passed away after preaching his doctrine to the world. This is the day when our savior was born into this world, and we celebrate with everlasting joy. People will stop us on the streets; smiling, welcoming people offering us a drink, or sweets, or a packet of rice or sweet potato, and we accept them because we know that they are not doing this for money, or gratitude, but out of the kindness of their hearts.

I love Vesak for this, because it makes people kind, and brings out the best in us. We will go to the temple, resplendent in colored lights and fresh garlands of flowers. We will worship the monk and take his blessing for the new year that dawns today. We will smile and kneel before the huge compassionate statue of our Lord Buddha and murmur a prayer for good health and happiness.

We will light a lamp in the courtyard before we go, a single flame to burn throughout the night and light the way for others. And there will be no shut doors today, no houses in the dark.

We are a country of many religions, but we all choose to celebrate together. And if I see a Catholic man helping his neighbor hang lights on his roof or a Hindu family admiring the pandols, I will not be surprised, but I will be glad.

Perhaps my family and I will push our way through the crowded streets to see the huge pandol in the square, a forty-foot tall construction of colored lights that shift and change, telling a story of Lord Buddha, and we will stand there looking up at the swathes of multicolored light lighting up even the dark night. And I will stand there in awe at what this day has done, for there are thousands of people looking up at the beauty of this, and all of us harbor the same joy in our hearts. Today, our religion brings us together.

Anything else you would like to tell us?

Buddhism is one of the oldest religions in the world, and it is followed in many Asian countries. By writing this I hope to share my experiences with the rest of the world and allow them to share in Vesak, which is our most important festival of the year.

In the Age category 12 -15 years, Nuthara is winning for the second year! This time she shares with us her insights into one of the big world religions, and we all can learn from her beautiful story about 'Vesak Day'. We are very grateful for this skilfully composed essay. Well done, Nuthara! Congratulations!

Do you want to join in our next competition? Then bookmark our page and join our annual essay writing competition with your own fabulous story.

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Festivals: Wesak: also known as Vesak or Visakha

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This celebration is usually held on the full moon in May. It celebrates the birth, enlightenment and in some traditions, death of Buddha. He is the most important figure in the Buddhist religion. 

Siddharta Gautama was born around 580 BC in Nepal into the royal family. One day, after growing-up, getting married and having a child in his privileged life, Siddharta went outside the palace. For the first time ever, he saw an old man, a sick man and a corpse. He didn't like this but learned that old age, sickness and death came to all humans. Siddharta had also seen a monk and decided this was a sign that he should leave his protected life and live as a homeless Holy Man. During his travels, he looked for a way of escaping old age, sickness and death but nothing provided him with an answer. When he met an Indian ascetic, he was persuaded to live a life of extreme self-denial. This did not provide him with an answer either. Eventually, Siddharta abandoned this extreme lifestyle but did not return to his palace and riches, instead he found the Middle Way. One day, whilst meditating, Siddharta thought back on his experience of life. He finally achieved enlightenment, and the place where he sat is now a temple and pilgrimage site.

Wesak is a colourful festival. Celebrations include chanting, singing and praying, cleaning and decorating the home. Often, water is poured over the shoulders of the Buddha to serve as a reminder to purify the mind from evil. Gifts are taken to an altar to be offered to the Buddha to show respect to him and to his teachings.

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Study Today

Largest Compilation of Structured Essays and Exams

Vesak Festival (Buddha Purnima) | Significance | Celebration | Essay

February 16, 2018 by Study Mentor Leave a Comment

Vesak, or roughly we can call it as the birth of Lord Gautam Buddha is the festival to celebrate the birth of Lord Buddha who was the founder of the world famous religion Buddhism which is also predominately followed or practiced by a good majority of people all over the world.

It is also a well-known fact that India is the origin of the beginning of the teaching of Buddhism and that Gautam Buddha started preaching about Buddhism from here in India.

So, before we move on to as how the festival is celebrated in the different parts of the world let us first discuss what is the significance behind the celebration of this festival ‘Vesak’ is?

Table of Contents

When is Vesak celebrated?

Although the followers and the devotees of Lord Gautam Buddha are found all over the world but the festival is seen to be majorly celebrated by the East Asian countries.

They celebrate the festival of ‘Vesak’ more traditionally than other countries who practices the religion of Lord Buddha.

Of such many countries that celebrate and observe the day of ‘Vesak, few countries that are a must to include here are, Nepal, Sri Lanka  India, Bhutan, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Singapore, and Indonesia.

These are the prominent countries that celebrate the birth of Lord Buddha and his life and teachings.  The countries such as Nepal, Sri Lanka and India which used to celebrate the day on the full moon day which used to fall according to the Hindu calendar, and the month would usually be falling on the Vaisakha month.

And thus the festival of Vesak is also termed to be Vaisakha. The day is also called and celebrated as Buddha Purnima, the term is Vesak otherwise when translated from Pali, from Sanskrit turns to be Purnima.

Which means full moon day, and so it is also called Buddha Purnima which is said to be observed on a full moon day.

However the celebration of the Vesak in the above mentioned three countries have come down to and according to the Gregorian calendar and the above mentioned countries celebrate the festival in the months of April and May.

On the time of a leap year the festival is often observed in the month of June, on a full moon day or Purnima.

In other countries the day is celebrated according to the Chinese lunar calendar. The observation day might vary in different countries and sometimes even the time period might not even match, but the day is said to vastly dependent on the lunar calendar of the Chinese.

The 14 th or the 15 th day of the lunar time period, or in some countries such as South Korea celebrates the day on 8 th day according to the fourth month that falls in the lunar calendar of the Chinese.

Japan celebrates the day of Vesak according to the Gregorian calendar and hence observes the day in the month of May.

What is the significance of Vesak?

It is a well-known fact by the devotees of Gautam Buddha that he was a selfless man who firmly believed in the art of selflessness, forgiveness and the righteousness, he believed in giving to others as much as he can and followed the path of dharma to attain moksha.

He was so pure with his flow of selflessness that he sacrificed the worldly pleasures of a king and accepted the life of a monk in order to help others. The festival of Vesak is observed or celebrated especially so that people can give back to society.

They help the underprivileged, the poor and the needy. They do so by providing them with food, clothes and shelter. The followers of the teachings of Lord Buddha visit the underprivileged, the homeless, the sick, the less fortunate, the disabled and the needy.

They provide them with fulfilling meals and even give them company for the day, in order to bring a light of hope and happiness in their lives.

The sole purpose of the celebration of this day is to light a spark of happiness in the life of other people especially in the lives of underprivileged.

There are different forms of bringing or providing people with happiness as practiced by people living in the different parts of the world.

There are not only rituals of providing the people who are needy, sick or unfortunate with monetary help but there are traditions in different parts of the world that devotees shall carry on the teaching of Lord Buddha, by reenacting the teachings of him.

They perform acts or plays so as to make the world aware of the enlightening teaching of Lord Buddha.

They even talk or speak about his early life, how he first entered into the world of attaining Moksha, how he left his worldly pleasures of being the emperor to becoming the Enlighted monk that ever walked on earth.

There are rituals where devotees of Lord Buddha also decorate the walls of temples and even the walls of some homage houses with the pictures of Buddha and his teachings.

They light candles in the worship places and even streets. All in all the celebration or the observation of the day ensures that the day is celebrated with utter happiness and joy and the day is filled with jolly thoughts of remembering Lord Buddha.

Another important and major aspect of the celebration of the day of ‘Vesak’ is paying respect and tribute to Lord Gautam Buddha. After all he is the reason the day is celebrated and observed worldwide and he is the founder of a new religion.

However Lord Gautam Buddha wished that at the end lay when he was breathing his final words, he wished that his devotees should not only see his death as a day to only pay homage to him and gift him precious garlands and sweets.

He wanted his followers to remember his preached words and not to forget his essence of life teachings. One of such disciples was Ananda whom Lord Gautam Buddha found crying as he was breathing in his final days, he whispered to him to not cry and be sad.

He even explained that it is also a part of once life that everyone has to go and that it is an inevitable part of once life, but in order to attain moksha or eternity one must follow the path of dharma or righteousness.

There are certain simple principles that a follower or the one who practices Buddhism has to abide by so as to attain moksha or divine eternity.

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