What are the important festivals in Han Buddhism?

There are two important Buddhist festivals in the Han areas of my country: one is the Buddha's Birthday on the 8th day of April, also known as the Buddha Bathing Festival; the other is the Yulan Pen Festival on July 15th, also known as the Zhongyuan Festival.

Editor's note: What are the important festivals in Han Buddhism? How many Buddha and Bodhisattva festivals are there? What are the days of Guanyin fasting? Xiao Bian raises a few small questions here: Where does the birth date of Bodhisattva usually come from? Is there a classic basis?

Mu Qianlian saw his mother suffering in hell, as if she was hanging upside down, so he asked Buddha for salvation. (Photo source: Data photo)

There are many festivals in Buddhism. There are two important festivals in Buddhism in Han areas of my country: one is the Buddha's Birthday on the 8th day of April, also known as the Buddha Bath Festival. On this day, a "Buddha Bathing Ceremony" will be held in the temple. The monks will serve fragrant flowers, lanterns, tea fruits, and precious dishes to provide Buddha statues, and soak and wash the birth statue of Sakyamuni with various famous incense as a commemoration of the birth of Sakyamuni Buddha. The second is the Ulan Bon Festival on July 15th, also known as the Zhongyuan Festival, and folk customs call it Ghost Festival. "Ulan Pen" is a paraphrase of Sanskrit, meaning "rescue from the upside". Buddhist scriptures say that Sakyamuni's disciple Mu Qianlian saw his dead mother suffering in hell, as if hanging upside down, so he went to seek Buddha salvation. Sakyamuni asked him to prepare a variety of food and drink on the 15th of July to provide for the monks in all directions so that his mother could be freed. Later, on this day, various Buddhist activities were held in the temple to recommend ancestors of generations. In addition to the above two festivals, there are other important festivals in Han Buddhism, such as February 8, Sakyamuni's Day as a monk, February 15, Sakyamuni's Nirvana Day, and the Eighth Day of the twelfth lunar month. During these important festivals, the temple will also hold commemorative activities. In addition, commemorative activities are also held in the temple on days related to Buddhas and Bodhisattva. The more important ones are: the 30th day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar, the birthday of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, and a grand Ksitigarbha meeting will be held in the Jiuhua Mountain Ksitigarbha Dojo. February 19th is the birthday of Guanyin Bodhisattva, June 19th is the day when Guanyin Bodhisattva becomes a Taoist, and September 19th is the day when Guanyin Bodhisattva becomes a monk. Major celebrations will be held at the Putuo Mountain Club of Guanyin Dojo. Buddhist festivals: The first day of the first month, Maitreya Bodhisattva Christmas, February 8th, Sakyamuni Buddha became a monk, February 15th, Sakyamuni Buddha Nirvana, February 19th, Guanyin Bodhisattva Christmas, February 21st, Samantabhadra Bodhisattva Christmas, April 4th, Manjusri Bodhisattva Christmas, April 8th, Sakyamuni Buddha Christmas, June 3rd, Weituo Bodhisattva Christmas, June 19th, Guanyin Bodhisattva was established July 13th, the general trend to Bodhisattva Christmas, July 24th, Dragon Tree Bodhisattva Christmas, September 30 Medicine Master Buddha Christmas November 17th Amitabha Christmas December 8th Sakyamuni Buddha became enlightened Guanyin fasting period: The eighth day of the first month, the seventh day of the second month, the ninth day of the first month, the ninth day of the second month, the sixth day of the first month, the sixth day, the fifth day, the fourth day, the fifth day, the fifth