Asahna Bucha Day

Asahna Bucha Day is a public holiday in Thailand. The date of Asahna Bucha varies each year depending on the lunar calendar, but it usually falls in July or August. This year, August 1.

The holiday commemorates the day when the Lord Buddha delivered his first sermon. This event took place over 2,500 years ago when the Buddha preached his first sermon at a deer park at Benares in India. From this sermon the Dharma (doctrine) of the Buddha was symbolised as a wheel. The Dharmachakra is also known as the Wheel of Life, Wheel of Law or Wheel of Doctrine and can be seen on flags in temples and buildings all across Thailand. Similarly, pictures of deer can often be seen at temples or in depictions of the Buddha to represent the first sermon at the deer park.