Throughout the world festivals have a very significant role to play in our lives. They are considered the means by which we connect to our past culture as we pay respect to all our customs, practices and even people who have had an impact on the way we lead our lives today. Buddhist festivals are no different. Due to the fact that Buddhism spans over so many different cultures there are a numerous amount of festivals practiced. These festivals fall on different days of the year because they are determined by the lunar calendar which also keeps them in touch with the natural cycle and rhythm of life.

One of the most important festivals celebrated in the Buddhist religion is the holiday of the Wesak. This holiday is most important in the Theravada Buddhist countries, though its observance varies from culture to culture. This festival is celebrated in late May early June and celebrated as the high holy holiday of the Buddhist calendar. This is due to the fact that it is believed that this is the month Buddha was born, attained enlightenment and died. During this holiday Theravada Buddhist sends out greeting cards that depict the main events of the life of Buddha, local shrines are decorated and lamps are also lit to symbolize Buddha’s enlightenment and the spread of his insight throughout the world. Tibetans also celebrate Wesak but their festival is called Saga Dawa. Many of the Tibetan rituals are similar during this holiday to that of the Theravada. The only difference is that they show their reverence through continuous prostrations. This is done by lying face down in supplication before the sacred site or object.

The Asala festival is another Buddhist celebration. This holiday memorializes the first teachings of Buddha and is considered the “First Turning of the Wheel of Dharma”. During this holiday one marks the beginning of the three month rainy season that kept monks from wandering and caused them to stay safely inside a monastery where they would meditate and have a series of introspection. In countries like Burma and Thailand worshipers follow what the monks once did and take temporary ordinations for a three month period. Other countries like Tibet celebrates this holiday by having a parade where Buddha’s scriptures and other sacred objects are commemorated.
Within the Buddhist religion a person’s death is as important as the festivals that are celebrated and also consist of different types of traditions. According to the Buddhist Belief, each individual passes through many reincarnations until they are liberated from worldly illusions and passions. Tibetan funerary practices are to cover the deceased in white cloth while monks recite a scripture called the Bar-do Thos-grol in their ear for about three to five days. This is done between the seventh and forty-ninth day after death and in the beliefs that that it would guide the departed through the early stages of the afterlife. It is also believed that there are three intermediary states that as they travel between death and rebirth. The first state of bardo is called the clear light state which is experienced at the moment of death as the sensory moments dissolve. The only way immediate liberation is achieved is if the deceased realizes that this clear light is reality. If this does not occur the person then passes to the second state. During this state of bardo the personality dissolves as the Mandala appears sequentially providing the opportunity for the deceased to awake by recognizing this vision of ultimate reality. The third and final state also occurs if the departed still has not spiritually awaken. During this state of bardo the momentum of past karmas pushes consciousness to take birth in the realm of either the gods, demigods, humans, animals, hungry, ghost or demons. After this ritual, the deceased body is then stripped, put in a fetal position and wrapped in a wool blanket as the body is prepared for the burial.