The festival comes with many names; Buddha Purnima, Buddha Jayanti, Vesak or, for others, simply the Buddha's birthday. Whatever the moniker, it's the most important day in the Buddhist calendar and a time for celebration and prayer.

The exact date changes every year with the Asian lunisolar calendar and is a public holiday in many Asian countries. It is celebrated all over the world though wherever there are practicing Buddhists.

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Illuminated Christmas tree at night. Town Hall square with House of the Blackheads and Christmas tree in winter, old town Riga, Latvia. Christmas postcard of Riga.
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