Buddha Purnima Meaning, Birth Date & Significance

This time around, Buddha Purnima will be celebrated on the 18th of May and is easily one of the most important days for practicing Buddhists as this was the day Lord Buddha was born. Born with the name, “Siddhartha Gautama”, Lord Buddha is best known as Gautama Buddha. Ever since that auspicious day, Buddha Purnima has been celebrated every year in the month of Vaishakha to honor the founder and spiritual leader of Buddhism. Gautama Buddha is also considered to be the 8th incarnation of Lord Vishnu in India, this is one of the reasons Buddha Purnima has so much meaning in the country and is celebrated all across.

Gautama Buddha Life

While Gautama Buddhas lifetime is highly debatable, it’s widely agreed by established historians that Gautama Buddha lived from somewhere between 563 to 483 BC. His birthplace has always been presumed to be Lumbini in Nepal. Whereas his place of death has been identified as Kushinaga in Uttar Pradesh. He is thought to have passed away at the age of 80.

Buddha Purnima Significance

So, what was the big hype around Gautama Buddha and how did Buddha Purnima come out of it? Well, Gautama Buddha or Siddhartha Gautama as he was known at the time, was a prince who lived an extremely comfortable and luxurious life as a child and young adult. One day, Gautama Buddha was travelling when he stumbled across an old, fragile and weak man who was the stark contrast of Gautama. This sight took a toll on Siddhartha Gautama and he soon decided to leave his life of royalty and wealth to seek enlightenment and nirvana as he knew, in the end, all life is met by death.

Finding Enlightenment wasn’t exactly a cake walk for Buddha either… to be fair, it’s really not supposed to be. If it was, we’d all be enlightened, wouldn’t we? Anyway, Buddha had decided to fast and meditate till his ultimate goal i.e. finding enlightenment and nirvana is met. He did so for about 49 days before he finally achieved enlightenment.

The story goes his body had become so weak as a result of the fasting, that he got stuck in a river trying to cross it. His body quite literally didn’t have the energy to take a step to get out of the river. He apparently held onto a branch and just stood there for hours. It was during this time that he realized that all the power he was seeking, was within him all along. When he realized that his life was in his hands, he somehow gathered the courage to take that step out of the river to sit down under the now world-famous Bodhi tree. It was at this moment he knew, he found enlightenment as he had managed to find his own energy source through meditation, peace and clarity of the mind.

He soon started preaching his teachings to followers and these teachings soon became known as Buddhism, and Gautama Buddha was officially recognized as the spiritual leader of the Buddhist ideology that preached peace and affection for all.

So now that you know the Buddha Purnima meaning and its significance, go celebrate it as authentically as you can. If peace, prosperity and happiness is all you need, Buddha Purnima is the day for you. Pray to your Buddha statue with good intentions and positive scenarios are bound to come your way.