Wesak Day - the holiest of all Buddhist holy days - marks the birth, enlightenment and final passing away of the Buddha. The Buddha was born as Prince Siddharta Gautama on a full moon day in the month of Wesak (month of May in present day calendar) in 623 BC.

Siddharta began his search for enlightenment at age 29 and after six years realized the eternal truth, thus becoming the Buddha - which means the Awakened One. This auspicious event took place at dawn in the month of Wesak in 588 BC, which was also a full moon day. The Buddha taught the truth for 45 years until his final passing away into Nirvana on a full moon day in 543 BC. Thus, all the three major events in the Buddha's life happened on a full moon day in the month of Wesak. As such Buddhists of both the Theravada and Mahayana tradition throughout the world celebrate this thrice-blessed day.

Always a missionary at heart, Venerable Dhammananda regards the annual Wesak Day celebrations as a good time to explain the Buddha's teaching to hundreds of Chinese Buddhists who would otherwise not have visited the Brickfields Temple on other days. There are thousands of these so-called "Wesak Buddhists" who would only visit a Buddhist temple once a year during Wesak Day. Many of these "Wesak Buddhists" do not have a proper understanding of the Buddha's teachings. Hence, Venerable Dhammananda took the opportunity to organise exhibitions on Buddhism, give talks and distribute free booklets on Buddhism for the visitors during Wesak Day. In this way even though they visit the temple only once a year, their trip would have been meaningful because they would have learnt about the Dharma.