Vesak Poya – The festival of Lights (Sri Lanka)

What: The Bud­dhist ‘Christ­mas,’ Vesak Poya is a fes­ti­val of togeth­er­ness and light and cel­e­brates the three most impor­tant events of Buddha’s life – his birth, his enlight­en­ment, and his death with the hang­ing and release of thou­sands of colour­ful lanterns, the erec­tion of light stat­ues mark­ing impor­tant events in Bud­dhas life, a series of pup­pet and sing-along con­certs, art per­for­mances and mime shows and numer­ous open med­i­ta­tion prac­tices – to spread not only con­tent­ment and joy to par­tic­i­pants but also assist those in need and bring hap­pi­ness to friends, neigh­bours and soci­ety as a whole.

Although cel­e­brat­ed all over the world, Vesak Poya takes on spe­cial sig­nif­i­cance in Sri Lan­ka, as com­mu­ni­ties from dif­fer­ent cul­tures and reli­gions par­take in the fes­ti­val, which usu­al­ly begins with a vis­it to a tem­ple, where, light lamps, incense and food will be offered to Bud­dhas. And in rev­er­ence of his teach­ing a series of giv­ing stalls known as Dansals will pop-up all along the streets in the day time, which offer free of charge, food, drinks, ice cream and pop­u­lar Sri Lankan Dish­es to passers-by – which com­bined with the evening release of lanterns, fire­works and per­for­mances helps both uni­fy and spread joy through the coun­try.

When: Vasek Poya is cel­e­brat­ed on the day of the full moon in May.

Where: While cel­e­brat­ed all over the world, head to Colom­bo along with Mil­lions of oth­ers to tru­ly immerse your­self in the fes­tiv­i­ties and joy of Vasek Poya.

Dura­tion: Vasek Poya lasts for a full day, with the lanterns and mosaics begin­ning to appear in the days lead­ing up the full moon, and the day begin­ning with a vis­it to the tem­ple and fea­tur­ing after­noon and evening med­i­ta­tion and artis­tic per­for­mances.

Tick­ets:  Vasek Poya is com­plete­ly free to attend – and food and drinks from the Dansals are free as well ! – the only cost will be in tem­ple entrance or in any offer­ings you pur­chase for Bud­dah.

Need to Know:  Colom­bo is a small but great city – so expect crowds and remem­ber to book in advance for your hotel and air­fare – also expect some shop clo­sures and be aware that slaugh­ter­hous­es also close a few days before Vesak Day.