When Is Vesak 2013 / Wesak 2013?

2013 Vesak / 2013 Wesak Celebration
In Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Thailand, Cambodia, Taiwan, Vietnam, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and India

Vesak is an annual public holiday observed traditionally by practicing Buddhists in South Asian and South East Asian countries like Nepal, Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Indonesia, Pakistan and India. Sometimes informally called ’Buddha’s birthday,’ it actually encompasses the birth, enlightenment Nirvana, and passing (Parinirvana) of Gautama Buddha.

When is Vesak Day 2013’ Vesak Day 2013 falls on Friday, 24 May 2013, which is the 15th day in the 4th month of Chinese lunar calendar. However, some countries observes the Vesak Day 2013 on different dates.

Vesak Day 2012
When is Vesak Day 2012’ Vesak 2012 falls on Saturday, 5 May 2012, which is the 15th day in the 4th month of Chinese lunar calendar. However, some countries observes the Vesak Day 2012 on different dates.

Date Of Vesak Day
Vesak 2013 is celebrated by Buddhist around the world, and in different manners all over the world. Though some countries occasionally use different date for this festival, many would fall on the same day.

The exact date of Vesak Day varies according to the various lunar calendars used in different countries and traditions. In Theravada countries following the Buddhist calendar, it falls on the full moon Uposatha day (typically the 5th or 6th lunar month). Vesak Day in China, Hong Kong and Macau is on the eighth of the fourth month in the Chinese lunar calendar.

Thus the date varies from year to year, but as general consensus in many countries, falls on the full-month day in May.

The decision to agree to celebrate the Vesak as the Buddha’s birthday was formalized at the first Conference of the World Fellowship of Buddhists held in Sri Lanka in 1950, although festivals at this time in the Buddhist world are a centuries-old tradition. The Resolution that was adopted at the World Conference reads as follows:

"That this Conference of the World Fellowship of Buddhists, while recording its appreciation of the gracious act of His Majesty, the Maharaja of Nepal in making the full-moon day of Vesak a Public Holiday in Nepal, earnestly requests the Heads of Governments of all countries in which large or small number of Buddhists are to be found, to take steps to make the full-moon day in the month of May a Public Holiday in honour of the Buddha, who is universally acclaimed as one of the greatest benefactors of Humanity.”

publicholiday dot org