Vesak

A major festival in the Buddhist Calendar, Vesak celebrates the birth, enlightenment and death of Buddha Siddharta Gautama. Borobudur is a central meeting point for Buddhists from all over Indonesia, and around the world on this auspicious day held every year, on a full moon in either April or May each year.

Each year one of a series of Buddhist organisations take the lead in the festivities, which include a procession from Mendut temple through to Pawon temple and then Borobudur. Depending on the organiser of the year, the emphasis is slightly different, but it is always colourful and filled with festivity and food.

Around 15,000 participants stretch for over a kilometre on the walk to Borobudur, where they settle before a dias with Borobudur as a backdrop. Thousands sit and join together in repeating mantras, truly is a powerful and humbling experience. Then a meditation begins, with a complete silence.

Vesak is celebrated at many Buddhist Temples, it is also celebrated at Candi Sewu within the Prambanan Temple Compounds.