| Buddhists celebrate these holy days, by visiting temples to make offering of prayers, incense, fruits, flowers and donations. On such days they observe the Five Precepts or Eight Precepts depending on one practice. Usually a full day's vegetarian diet is observed . The common dates practise by the Chinese Buddhists would 1st and 15th Day of every Lunar Months, which coincide with New Moon and Full Month Day. Theravadin Buddhists usually observe Eight Precepts on holy days in which they spend full day at the temples starting from the eve of the holy days. New and Full Moon Days are observed as holy days by all Buddhist traditions. The dates given are based on the Chinese Lunar system so that 1 月 ( 正月) 初 l means the "First day of the First Lunar Month " ( Gregorian calandar =22 Jan 2004 ) The 1st 2 digits denote the Lunar Month (Moon) while the 2nd set of digits denote Day |
| Lunar Calender | Year 2004 | Year 2005 | Year 2006 | Buddhist Festivals |
| 12月初
8 |
30 Dec 03 | 17 Jan | 07 Jan | Buddha Sakyamuni's Enlightenment Day. |
| 12月
30 |
21 Jan | 08 Feb | 28 Jan | Avatamsaka Bodhisattva's BirthdayMay |
| 正月初
1 |
22 Jan | 09 Feb | 29 Jan | Maitreya Buddha's Birthday. |
| 正月初
9 |
30 Jan | 17 Feb | 06 Feb | Sakra Devaraja's Birthday |
| 2月初
8 |
27 Feb/28 Mar* | 17 Mar | 07 Mar | Sakyamuni's Renunciation Day |
| 2 月15 |
05 Mar | 24 Mar | 14 Mar | Sakyamuni Buddha's Mahapari-Nirvana Day |
| 2月19 |
09 Mar | 28 Mar | 18 Mar | Birthday of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva (Guan Shi Yin P'usa) |
| 2月
21 |
11 Mar | 30 Mar | 20 Mar | Birthday of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva (Pu Xien Pusa) |
| 3月 16 |
04 May | 14 Apr | 13 Apr | Birthday of Cundi Pusa (Cunda Bodhisattva) |
| 3月 23 |
11 May | 01 May | 20 Apr | Birthday of Marichi Devata |
| 4月初 4 |
22 May | 11 May | 01 May | Birthday of Manjusri Bodhisattva (Wen-Shu P'usa) |
| 4月初
8 |
26 May | 15 May | 05 May | Birthday of Buddha Sakyamuni |
| 月 |
2 Jun | 22 May | 12 May | |
| 4月
28 |
15 Jun | 04 Jun | 25 May | Birthday of Bhaisajyaraja Bodhisattva (Yao-Wang Pusa ) |
| 6月
初 3 |
19 Jul | 08 Jul | 28 Jun | Birthday of Skanda Bodhisattva (Wei-Tuo Pusa) |
| 6月初
10 |
26 Jul | 15 Jul | 05 Jul | Birthday of Guru Padmasambhava |
| 6月
19 |
04 Aug | 24 Jul | 14 Jul | Enlightenment Day of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva (Guan Shi Yin Pusa) |
| 7月13 |
28 Aug | 17 Aug | 06 Aug/05 Sep* | Birthday of Mahasthamaprata Bodhisattva (Da-Shi-Chi Pusa) |
| 7月15 |
30 Aug | 19 Aug | 08 Aug/07 Sep* | Ullambana Ceremony (7th Month Festival /Hungry Ghosts Festival) |
| 7月30 |
13 Sep | 03 Sep | 23 Aug/21 Sep* | Birthday of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva Di-Zang Pusa |
| 8月 22 |
05 Oct | 25 Sep | 13 Oct | Birthday of the Dipankara ( Ancient Buddha Jan-teng) |
| 9月19 |
01 Nov | 21 Oct | 09 Nov | Guan Shi Yin Pusa's Renunciation Day |
| 9月 30 |
11 Nov | 01 Nov | 20 Nov | Birthday of Bhaisajyaguru Buddha (Medicine Buddha) + |
| 10月初
5 |
16 Nov | 06 Nov | 24 Nov | Death Anniversary of Bodhidharma( Da-Mo) |
| 11月17 |
08 Jan 04 | 17 Dec | 05 Jan 07 | Birthday of Amitabha Buddha (A - Mi-Tuo Fo) |
+Medicine Buddha Birthday usually coincides with Hindu Deepavali ( Dewali) Festival aka Light Festival.
* Leap Month ( 2月)- March 2004
** Leap Month( 7月)- Aug 2006
Chinese ( Lunar ) Calendar were Excerpts from " Popular Deities of Chinese Buddhism " by Kuan Ming (with some changes in Hanyu Pin) Comtemplative Order 1985 ( Malaysia)
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Gregorian-Lunar Calendar Conversion Table
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