Esala Full Moon Poya 2023: Date, History, Facts about Sri Lanka

Several legends are associated with Esala Full Moon Poya Day, including the conception of 'Siddhrtha Gautama' or 'Buddha' by Queen My, the Great Renunciation, and the first sermon delivered by Buddha.

Each year, Esala Full Moon Poya is celebrated on the full moon of the eighth lunar month. This year’s event will take place on July 3. This celebration commemorates the first sermon of the Buddha and the advent of the Tooth Relic in Sri Lanka.

The background of Esala Full Moon Poya

Several legends are associated with Esala Full Moon Poya Day, including the conception of ‘Siddhrtha Gautama’ or ‘Buddha’ by Queen My, the Great Renunciation, and the first sermon delivered by Buddha. According to Sri Lankan myth, on Esala Full Moon Poya Day, Queen My dreamed she was being carried by four ‘devas’ or’spirits’ to Lake Anotatta in the Himalayas, where a white infant elephant circled her three times and entered her womb from the right side. Queen My informed her husband of the happy news, and shortly thereafter, Siddhartha Gautama was born.

Approximately three decades later, after witnessing the great suffering of the impoverished and needy during a visit outside the palace on Esala Full Moon Poya Day, Gautama gave up his life of luxury and embarked on a quest for enlightenment. On Esala Full Moon Poya Day, a few years after attaining Buddhahood, Gautama delivered his first sermon to the Five Ascetics: Kondanna, Vappa, Bhaddiya, Mahanama, and Assaji.

According to Sri Lankan legends, Buddha’s corpse was cremated on a sandalwood pyre in Kushinagar, India, in 543 B.C., where his disciple Khema retrieved his left canine tooth. The tooth, which became known as “The Tooth Relic,” was transported to Sri Lanka following a conflict in modern-day India’s Kalinga region. The Tooth Relic is venerated by tens of thousands of Sri Lankans, so much so that a new palace was constructed to house it each time the nation’s capital changed. It was ultimately transported to Kandy, where it is housed in the Temple of the Tooth. On Esala Full Moon Poya, each year, thousands flock to the temple to capture a glimpse of the tooth.

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