1,250 monks at the Bamboo Grove
Related guide: Makha Bucha 2027
Makha is the Pali month name Magha, the third month of the Thai lunar calendar, and bucha means homage. The festival falls on that month's full moon, which in 2026 came on 3 March.
It commemorates a gathering recorded in the Buddhist scriptures. On the same day, 1,250 monks arrived at the Veluvana monastery in Rajagaha without being summoned. Every one of them had been ordained by the Buddha himself and had reached arahantship. That night the Buddha gave them the Ovada Patimokkha, summed up in three lines: do no evil, do good, purify the mind.
Thai temples mark the night with a walk around the stupa. The three circuits honour the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha, and the line moves clockwise so the stupa stays on the right. The daytime is for giving alms, hearing sermons and keeping the eight precepts.
The same walk happens three times a year in Thailand. Besides Makha Bucha there is Visakha Bucha, for the Buddha's birth, enlightenment and death, and Asanha Bucha, for his first sermon.
The full guide to this festival
Makha Bucha 2027: 21 February, candlelit walks around temple stupas across Thailand
Full guide: dates, getting there and what you can book →
Tickets and transport you can book
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Thailand 5G eSIM (AIS)
Unlimited data on AIS. Your phone must support eSIM; activate it in the Klook app before you fly. Full refund if cancelled before it connects.
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