Vesak Day Holiday

2022 Vesak Day Holiday

Vesak Day is a holy day for Buddhists. Every year, Vesak Day is celebrated to commemorate the birth and death of the Buddha. In Indonesia, Vesak Day celebrations follow the decision of the World Fellowship of Buddhists (WFB). The WFB is a worldwide conference of Buddhist fraternities.

The Indonesian government has designated Vesak Day as a national holiday. During Waisak, usually Buddhists in Indonesia will visit the temple to carry out a series of worship and prayer processes. Every year, Vesak Day celebrations are centered nationally in the Borobudur Temple complex, Central Java. Interestingly, tourists can also come to watch the Vesak Day celebration procession which also attracts the attention of foreign tourists.

Vesak Day is designated as a national holiday based on Presidential Decree No. 3 of 1983. In 2022, the Vesak Day holiday will fall on Monday, May 16. By falling in the first day of the week, you can extend your vacation time to the weekend so you can be more satisfied when traveling.

Magelang can be a perfect holiday destination for Vesak Day. Usually before the pandemic, there is a Waisak celebration that is routinely held every year with the culmination of the release of thousands of lanterns into the air at Borobudur Temple which creates a beautiful view and is a shame to miss.

Vesak Day to commemorate 3 important events

Among Buddhists, Vesak Day is also often called the “Trisuci Vesak Day”. This holiday is held to commemorate 3 important events, first is the birth of Buddha Sidharta Gautama, a man who was born into a rich family but still lives a simple life. In fact, Sidharta Gautama left his luxurious life to become a hermit.

The second important event was when Sidharta became Buddha in Bodhgaya. After years of meditating, Sidharta finally got the Great Illumination under a Bodhi tree. Meanwhile, the last important event was the death of Sidharta at the age of 80. Reportedly, Sidharta died due to a disturbance in the digestive tract.

Differences of Vesak in various countries

Buddhists in Indonesia recognize this holiday as “Waisak” or “Vesak”. However, Buddhists in other countries have different names. In Thailand, for example, Vesak is better known as Visakah Puja. While in Japan, this holiday is called Hanamatsuri. Meanwhile, Korea calls Vesak Day with Seokka Tanshin-il.

It is different from Myanmar, where the name of Vesak Day changes to Kasone le-pyae Boda Nei which means the Full Moon Day of Kason. Then, in Tibet, Buddhists call Vesak Day with Saga Dawa.

The tradition of releasing birds

Every country usually has a different Vesak tradition. Even so, there is one common tradition, namely releasing birds. During Vesak Day, Buddhists will release the birds from their cages. This tradition is believed to be able to get rid of bad luck and bring success in daily work.

On the other hand, this tradition also brings good luck to bird traders. Some of the birds that are usually released during Vesak Day are doves and sparrows.

The release of thousands of lanterns at Borobudur

Vesak celebrations in Indonesia are usually centered nationally at the Borobudur Temple Complex. The process begins by taking water from the Jumprit spring in Temanggung Regency. Not to forget, there was also a procession of lighting torches from the source of the eternal flame of Mrapen, Grobogan. After that, the procession was continued with the Pindapatta ritual. In this ritual, Buddhists provide alms-food to the monks with the aim of giving people the opportunity to do good.

Furthermore, Buddhists will meditate before the peak of the full moon. Determination of the full moon is based on astronomical calculations. This allows the peak of the full moon to occur during the day. Meanwhile, at Borobudur Temple, usually the peak of the Vesak celebration is done by releasing thousands of lanterns into the sky. This moment can be followed around 21:00 until finished.

Vesak Day is indeed a holy day celebration for Buddhists. Even so, those of you who don't celebrate can still take advantage of this moment for a vacation with the closest people. In 2022, Vesak will fall on Monday. So, if you want to take a vacation, you should plan carefully so that the vacation feels more exciting and fun.

To make it easier, you can plan your 2022 Vesak vacation with Traveloka. There are various special offers, from hotel bookings, flight tickets, train tickets, bus and travel tickets, to Flight + Hotel packages that you can use to make your vacation budget cheaper.

Not only that, on the promo page there are also various unique codes that you can get to get a discount. So what are you waiting for? Let’s plan your vacation with Traveloka!