Within the Theravāda world, the rhythm of the year is shaped above all by a set of shared holy days that recall decisive moments in the Buddha’s life and the formation of the monastic community. Vesak, often regarded as the foremost festival, commemorates in a single day the Buddha’s birth, awakening, and final passing away. It is observed on the full moon of the month of Vesākha and is marked by temple visits, acts of generosity, and various ceremonies that draw laypeople and monastics together. Asalha Puja, or Dhamma Day, recalls the Buddha’s first sermon and the arising of the Saṅgha, and it likewise invites renewed faith and reflection on the teaching.

Flowing from Asalha Puja is the three‑month Rains Retreat, Vassa, during which monastics remain in one place and undertake intensified practice. This period becomes an opportunity for lay followers to deepen their own commitment through increased meditation, observance of precepts, and generous support of the monastic community. At the close of Vassa, the Kathina ceremony provides a formal occasion for offering new robes and other requisites to the monks, symbolizing the interdependence of lay and monastic lives. In some accounts, the end of the retreat is also marked by a day on which monastics invite admonition from one another, underscoring the ethical dimension of communal life.

Magha Puja stands alongside these observances as another major full‑moon festival, recalling a spontaneous gathering of 1,250 enlightened disciples in the Buddha’s presence. This event is remembered as a pivotal moment in the early Saṅgha and is honored with acts of devotion, listening to Dhamma, and meditation. Threaded through all these annual observances are the more frequent Uposatha days, occurring on full, new, and often quarter moons, when monastics recite the monastic code and laypeople commonly undertake additional precepts and spiritual practice.

Around this shared core, regional cultures shape further expressions of devotion and community life. New Year celebrations such as Songkran in Thailand or Thingyan in Myanmar, ceremonies for blessing and protection, and occasions for dedicating merit to deceased relatives all become ways of embodying the same fundamental values: generosity, ethical conduct, and mindfulness. Even ordination ceremonies for new monks and novices, though not festivals in the strict sense, take on a festive character and reinforce the living continuity of the tradition. Taken together, these observances do more than mark time; they weave doctrine, discipline, and devotion into the fabric of everyday life.