Poya is the name given to the Lunar monthly Buddhist holiday of Uposatha in Sri Lanka, where it is a civil and bank holiday. When earth makes Full Orbit of moon is normally considered as the poya day in Sri Lanka every month.
Poya A Poya occurs every full moon."Sri Lanka Bank Holidays, Public Holidays & Full Moon Poya Days" (Online Calendar for years 2003–2011), Ministry of Public Administration and home Affairs, Independence Square, Colombo 7, Sri Lanka. Uposatha is important to Buddhists all around the world, who have adopted the lunar calendar for their religious observances. Owing to the moon's fullness of size as well as its effulgence, the full moon day is treated as the most auspicious of the four lunar phases occurring once every lunar month (29.5 days) and thus marked by a holiday.A.G.S. Kariyawasam, "Buddhist Ceremonies and Rituals of Sri Lanka" (Ch. 3), The Wheel Publication No. 402/404 (Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 1995). Access to Insight, 1 March 2011
Every full moon day is known as a Poya in the Sinhala language; this is when a practicing Sri Lankan Buddhist visits a temple for religious observances. There are 13 or 14 Poyas per year.For a standard listing of the 13, see The Significance of Poya.For an example of the less common 14 full moon days in one year, see the 2009 calendar of "Sri Lanka Bank Holidays, Public Holidays & Full Moon Poya Days" The term poya is derived from the Pali and Sanskrit word uposatha (from upa + vas "to fast"), primarily signifying "fast day". Generally shops and businesses are closed on Poya days, and the sale of alcohol and meat is forbidden.
The Poya Day in each month generally falls on the Gregorian date of the full moon but occasionally it falls a day on either side. The designated Poya Day is based on the phase of the moon at the Madhyahana time of day (the variant of Madhyahana which only covers two ghatikas).
Month Poya Name Full Moon Poya days of 2023 January Duruthu Poya 6th February Navam Poya 5th March Medin Poya 6th April Bak Poya 6th May Vesak Poya 5th June Poson Poya 3rdJulyAdhi Esala Poya3rd August Esala Poya 1st August Nikini Poya 30th September Binara Poya 29th October Vap Poya 28th November Ill Poya 26th December Unduvap Poya 26th
If a month has two Poya days, the name of the second one will be preceded by "Adhi" ("extra" in Sinhala) as in "Adhi Vesak", "Adhi Poson", etc.
See also List of Buddhist festivals Mid-Autumn Festival, similar Chinese/Vietnamese Buddhist festival occurring on the day of the eighth lunar month full moon. Tshechu, similar concept in Bhutan however revolves around the tenth day of a lunar month.
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