✦ zenith calendar · the theravada (sri lanka) almanac
the full moons of the sri lankan buddhist year in one quiet layer of your sky, each one explained in its own tradition's words.
theravada (sri lanka) is one of the holiday almanacs that come with zenith calendar. it holds the full moon poya days of the sri lankan buddhist calendar, as the government of sri lanka gazettes them each year, with the start of vas and the kathina month by the vinaya's own rules.
thailand, myanmar, laos and cambodia keep the same full moons by their own reckonings, some years a month apart. nothing is worked out on your phone. tap a day and read three short paragraphs: what it is, where it comes from, and how it is kept.
lunar · the full moon poya days, as gazetted each year
the first full moon of the year
the day the buddha first came to the island. it opens the year's round of poya days.
people keep the precepts and visit the temple, and many go on pilgrimage to mahiyangana. the duruthu perahera, a night procession of dancers, drummers and elephants, goes round the kelaniya raja maha vihara.
the full moon of vesak
the holiest day of the year, remembering the buddha's birth, his awakening and his passing into final nibbāna.
people dress in white, keep the eight precepts and fill the temples with flowers and lamps. the streets glow with vesak kudu lanterns and lit thoran pandals, and families set up dansal, free stalls of food and drink for anyone passing.
the full moon of poson
the day the dhamma came to sri lanka with the arahant mahinda. after vesak it is the island's greatest buddhist day.
pilgrims in white climb the steps of mihintale and visit the sacred city of anuradhapura. lanterns, pandals and dansal return, and people keep the precepts.
the full moon of esala
the day of the buddha's first teaching, the turning of the wheel of the dhamma. the next day the monks enter the rains retreat.
people keep the precepts, hear the first sermon and invite the monks to spend the rains with them. in kandy the esala perahera honours the sacred tooth relic with nights of dancers, drummers and elephants.
zenith calendar draws the year as an orbit round the sun. lit, theravada (sri lanka) puts its days on their dates on that ring, in lilac, the colour every buddhist reckoning wears. its mark is බු, the first syllable of "buddha" in sinhala script.
each day carries three short paragraphs in its notes: what it is, where it comes from as its own tradition tells it, and how it is kept.
theravada (sri lanka) arrives locked, so nothing in it changes by accident. the lock guards your hand, not your eye: you can still read it, shine it or eclipse it. one tap unlocks it, and then it is yours to rename, recolour or add to.
tap its chip in the legend to eclipse it (kept, but not drawn) and tap again to bring it back. nothing is deleted either way.
theravada (sri lanka) shares one sky with your own commitments. like every almanac that comes with the app, it never counts toward the almanacs you can make for free, and it lives on your phone: zenith calendar has no server of its own.
✦ zenith calendar · the sky around it
theravada (sri lanka) is a single layer. beneath it is a whole calendar drawn as the sky, your year an orbit round the sun, and every part of it answers your touch.
the sun stands at the centre and the year rings round it, with today's earth riding at today's place, its small moon beside it. tap the ring anywhere else and a faint ghost earth waits on that day.
drag along the ring and the days pass under your finger, the big date and the day's list following as you go. lift, and the day you stopped on stays picked.
tap the small moon beside today's earth and you dive into the week. the moon above shows its phase, named underneath; swipe the dates and each week brings its own.
tap the sun and the ring tips on its edge into a ladder of years. in the week, pull the moon firmly down and the month opens, the moon resting half off its foot.
zenith calendar has no server of its own. tap the gear and switch on "nothing comes in" or "nothing leaves this phone"; lift them, and every almanac is back exactly as it was.
theravada (sri lanka) is waiting in the app, and the rest of the sky comes with it.
theravada (sri lanka) · buddhist reckonings ·
Vesak poya falls on 19 May 2027, as the government of Sri Lanka gazettes it. In Zenith Calendar it sits on the ring of your year in the theravada (sri lanka) almanac.
Poson poya falls on 18 June 2027. It marks the day the dhamma came to Sri Lanka, and pilgrims in white climb the steps of Mihintale.
Esala poya falls on 18 July 2027, the day of the Buddha's first teaching. Vas, the rains retreat, begins the next day.
A poya day is a full moon day of the Sri Lankan Buddhist calendar. Each has its own name and story, and people keep the precepts and visit the temple.
Zenith Calendar for Android comes with an almanac called theravada (sri lanka): the full moon poya days, drawn on the ring of your year beside your own days. Turning it on costs nothing.
Thailand, Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia keep the same full moons by their own reckonings, some years a month apart. In Zenith Calendar each is its own almanac, so you light the one you keep.