Buddhists around the world recently celebrated Vesak, or Buddha Day, a festival that marks the birth, enlightenment, and death of Gautama Buddha, observed on the full moon in May or June. Devotees, monks, and nuns gathered in temples and sacred areas to pray and rededicate themselves to the teachings of Buddha. Vesak is observed in varying ways from country to country, and some of these can be seen below in photographs from Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Cambodia, China, Vietnam, Myanmar, Indonesia, and more.
Buddha Day Celebrations in Photos
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An aerial photograph shows a giant Buddha statue under construction at the Khai Nguyen Pagoda in Son Tay, on the outskirts of Hanoi, Vietnam, on May 18, 2019, the eve of Vesak. #
Manan Vatsyayana / AFP / Getty -
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Buddhist devotees unfurl a 25-year-old, 196-foot-long sacred thangka during Vesak, or Buddha Day, festival celebrations at the Enlightened Heart Tibetan Buddhist Temple in Ipoh, outside Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on May 19, 2019. #
Mohd Rasfan / AFP / Getty -
Buddhist priests wearing traditional costumes perform rituals along with other devotees during the Buddha Day festival in Ipoh, outside Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on May 19, 2019. #
Mohd Rasfan / AFP / Getty -
Monks wearing straw hats and holding alms bowls walk toward Lingyin Temple in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, China, on May 12, 2019. Monks received alms from believers and tourists along the street in Hangzhou during Buddha's-birthday celebrations. #
Wang Jianchun / VCG via Getty -
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Cambodian Buddhist monks carry an urn, which allegedly contains the remains of one of Buddha's bones, during the Visak Bochea Buddhist celebration at a pagoda in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on May 18, 2019. #
Tang Chhin Sothy / AFP / Getty
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