Every year on the 9th lunar month of the Tibetan calendar, Vajrayana Buddhists around the world celebrate Lhabab Düchen  – one of the four significant Buddhist festivals in every year. Lhabab Düchen is a very important Buddhist event, as it commemorates the day that Lord Buddha descended from the God Realms of Trāyastrimsha (also known as the Heaven of the 33 Gods.)  

According to Buddha’s teachings, Buddha’s mother (who had already passed away) was reborn in the God realms. To repay her kindness of giving birth to him, the Buddha left Earth and travelled to Trāyastrimsha Heaven in order to give teachings to his mother as well as to the Gods of all the Heaven realms. 

At that time was 41 years old. He remained in Trāyastrimsha Heaven for some time and his disciples began to worry that he would not return. Beneath the full moon of the 9th month (15th day), Buddha’s heart disciple – Maudgalyayana –  made heartfelt requests to the Buddha, imploring him to return to Earth and he agreed. A week later (on the 22nd day), the Buddha returned to Earth, descending on a magical “triple ladder” specially created by Viswakarma, the God of Machines. Hence both the full moon date and the actual date of his return are considered extremely special days; karmic results of all deeds on these two dates are multiplied million-fold!

This auspicious event of Buddha returning to Earth is considered one of the twelve great acts of the Buddha. Henceforth, Buddhists around the world conduct elaborate prayers and rituals on the Full Moon Day and Lhabab Duchen Day, in remembrance of Buddha’s great compassion and love for the world.

Lhabab Düchen Dates in 2020

Generally, the whole month of Lhabab Düchen is considered auspicious for Buddhist rituals and practices. Here are the dates connected to Lhabab Duchen in year 2020: