Saka Dawa (also Saga Dawa; Tibetan: ས་ག་ཟླ་བ།) is the holiest month of the Tibetan Buddhist year. Dawa means “month,” and Saka is the name of the star that rises with the full moon of the fourth lunar month. Throughout this sacred month we commemorate the three greatest events in the life of Buddha Shakyamuni — his birth, his enlightenment, and his parinirvana.
The Month of the Buddha
According to tradition, the Buddha’s birth in Lumbini, his attainment of full enlightenment beneath the Bodhi tree at Bodh Gaya, and his passing into parinirvana at Kushinagar all occurred in this same month. The single most sacred day — Saka Dawa Düchen — falls on the full-moon (15th) day, honoured as the anniversary of the Buddha’s enlightenment and parinirvana.
A Month When Merit Multiplies
It is taught that during Saka Dawa the results of our actions, both wholesome and unwholesome, are vastly multiplied. It is therefore treasured as a most precious time for generosity, prayer, fasting, vegetarianism, the saving of lives, and the dedication of merit for the benefit of all sentient beings. A single act of virtue offered in this month carries extraordinary power.
When Is Saka Dawa?
Saka Dawa falls in the fourth month of the Tibetan lunar calendar — usually May or June — with Saka Dawa Düchen on the full-moon day. As the dates follow the lunar calendar they shift slightly each year. In the Fire Horse Year (2153) Saka Dawa Düchen falls on Sunday, 31 May 2026.
How to Take Part
You are warmly invited to accumulate merit with us during this holiest of months. Offer prayers and butter lamps, practise generosity, and sponsor a puja so that our monks may dedicate prayers on your behalf and for all beings — every offering, however small, is multiplied many times over in this sacred month.