Buddha Purnima is celebrated in Vaishakha month as the birth anniversary of Gautama Buddha. Siddhartha Gautama was his birth name, who became the great spiritual teacher Gautama Buddha. Buddhism was established based on whose teachings.
Though the exact time of Gautama Buddha’s birth and death is uncertain, most historians believe that his lifetime was between 480 B.C. and 400 B.C. or between 563 B.C. and 483 B.C. Lumbini in Nepal was his birth place and he left this world at the age of 80 at Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh.
For Buddhists, the most important pilgrimage sites related to the life of Gautama Buddha are Bodh Gaya, Lumbini, Kushinagar and Sarnath. It is believed that Gautama Buddha got Enlightenment at Bodhagaya and he performed the first discourse of Dharma at Sarnath.
Buddha Purnima is also known by the names Buddha Jayanti, Vesak, and Vaishaka, all referring to Buddha’s Birthday. Some people in North India believe that Buddha is the 9th incarnation of Lord Vishnu and Lord Krishna the 8th one. However, South Indians do not consider Gautama Buddha as an Avatar of Vishnu. People in South India consider Balarama as the 8th incarnation of Lord Vishnu and Krishna the 9th one. Majority of the Vaishnava movements in the country consider Balarama as an incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Even Buddhists don’t consider Gautama Buddha as an incarnation of Lord Vishnu.
