There are a lot of good reasons to be merry on Visakha Bucha Day regardless if you are a Buddhists or not. If Christians consider Christmas as the season of giving, so do Buddhist on Buddha’s birthday. However, Visakha Bucha or Vesak is not just Buddhas birthday but it is also his day of enlightenment and his day of death. Therefore, you can expect to experience Buddhist generosity in the grandest way.
You can just imagine that on this day Buddhist all over the world who are celebrating are not just busy praying and meditating as they always do. On this day, they also do the Tuk Bard or the Dansala and offer free food to anyone regardless of race or religion. They usually offer vegetarian food. Some would make milk rice. Others offer the food to monks in an alm bowl. Others would serve coffee and tea too. Some can serve lunch to everyone who visits the temple while some can offer food for two straight days. Some organizations take time to reach out to the less fortunate, the old ones and the sick. They feed them and provide for other needs. Donations in cash and kind have also become common.
It is said that this custom was to make sure that people who go to the temple to pray can devote their time to praying alone without having to worry about food preparation. However, these days Buddhist generosity goes beyond serving the monks and other praying Buddhist. Today’s Vesak celebration marks the outstanding generosity of the Buddhists to the world not just in the serving of food but in giving first priority to the needs of others.