A Religious Holiday. Held in memory of the passing of Siddhartha Gautama, the Lord Buddha, the Lord Buddha, from this earth, Visakha Bucha Day is a precious testimonial to the the Buddha's life and celebrates the end of end.. It was his death, on his 80th birthday the 15th day of the waxing moon in the 6th lunar month that marked the beginning of the Buddhist Era
For at least 639 years now, on these full moon night, residents of Chiang Mai gather to celebrate The Birth, Enlightenment and the Passing Away of Gautama Buddha by walking up the 11 kms to the temple at Doi Suthep in commemoration of the birth, enlightenment and death of the Lord Buddha. It is a fun time when in the evening hundreds now even thousands of people will walk together and enjoy the walk and some time get lifts if they can not make it all the way to the top. It is done by very young to very old people, of course is a lot of younger college students. Most people make it to the top by about 1-3 am. Then they pay respect when they arrive by preforming “vien tiane”, or walking around the Grand Stupa for three times in a clockwise direction. It is a form of merit, to provide good karma. Along the way they are provide with drinks and snacks by local businesses. It is a fun time and well worth the effort if your here at that time and if you live here VisakaBucha merit is said to help ones life and business to proper. .
Date: Full moon in May
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