What festival is May 19 in Singapore?

May 19 is Vesak Day in Singapore. This festival originated from the full moon of Brahma calendar in ancient India. This is a festival to commemorate the birth, consciousness and death of the Buddha. Because the birth, enlightenment and death of the Buddha are on April 15 in different years, this day commemorates the birth, enlightenment and death of the Buddha at the same time.

1950, at the first meeting of the World Buddhist Association held in Colombo, Sri Lanka, a resolution was reached that the Buddha was born in 623 BC, attained enlightenment in 588 BC, and attained nirvana in 543 BC. The birth, enlightenment and nirvana of the Buddha were all on May, and this "three-phase celebration" festival was called Vesak Day. At the 54th session of the United Nations General Assembly in 1999, representatives of 16 countries signed a letter requesting international recognition of the Day of Vesak. The letter pointed out: "The Buddha's teachings and his message about compassion, peace and kindness have touched millions of people in Qian Qian all over the world." "Countless people in the world follow the teachings of the Buddha and commemorate the birth, enlightenment and nirvana of the Buddha on Vesak Day." In the same year, Greece, Norway, Turkey, the United States and other countries also joined the initiative. 199965438+In February, the United Nations General Assembly adopted this initiative, and Vesak Day was officially designated as the United Nations Day (UNDV), and it was proposed to hold a global celebration every year to show the Buddha's self-awareness, awareness of others and perfect wisdom to shine on the world, so as to carry forward the Buddha's teachings of compassion and equality and advocate world peace.