Parinirvana Day, or Nirvana Day is a Buddhist holiday which commemorates the death of Buddha and is celebrated on 15 February [it is celebrated on the fifteenth day of the fourth month of the Bhutanese calendar] (and by some on 8 February). This day – also known as Nirvana Day – is celebrated because it is believed that Buddha’s death should be celebrated because at his death he had reached Enlightenment and had finally reached the stage of Nirvana. Many of the celebrations and festivals observed on this day mark the end of the cycle of death and rebirth.
Passages from the Nirvana Sutra describing the Buddha’s last days of life are often read on Parinirvana Day. Other observances include meditation and pilgrimages to Buddhist temples and monasteries, heading to
different Buddhist shrines, also known as stupas. These include the Wat Thai Temple, the Ramabhar Stupa or the Nirvana Stupa.
Some people reserve the day for intense meditation and for reading excerpts from the Parinibanna Sutta. It is an especially important time for Buddhists to reflect on the impermanence of life and upon their inevitable death.
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