Saka Dawa: Celebrating The Buddha's Enlightenment with Robert A.F. Thurman
Channel: Tibet House US Menla Online
Date: 2022-06-14

Saka Dawa (also known as Saga Dawa) (ས་ག་ཟླ་བ།) represents the holiest and most sacred days in Tibetan Buddhism. Falling on the fourth month of the Tibetan Calendar, the religious festivities of Saka Dawa peak on the 15th Lunar Day when there is a full moon. This day is associated with three major events in the life of Shakyamuni Buddha – his birth, his enlightenment on a full moon night, and his parinirvana. In Tibetan, Dawa means “month” while Saka means the “name of the closet star to the earth” during the lunar month which is prominently visible. In Tibetan astrological calculations, Saka is one of the 28 known major stars.