The ultimate guide to Vesak Day in Singapore in 2025

Vesak Day in Singapore falls on May 12, 2025 and it is considered a public holiday.

In Singapore, Vesak Day is a vibrant yet deeply spiritual occasion observed across the island. Devotees gather at Buddhist temples at the break of dawn to raise the Buddhist flag, sing hymns and give offerings like flowers, candles and joss sticks. Through their withering and burning, the act symbolises the decay and destruction that life is subject to. 

This is a day of goodwill, so Buddhists take the opportunity to practise compassion by engaging in charitable acts, such as donating blood and distributing food to the needy. They also refrain from killing of any kind – which is why practitioners tend to stick to a meat-free diet on Vesak Day. In other countries, Buddhists may also release caged animals – but that's banned in Singapore to protect the local ecosystem. 

When Buddha was born, it's believed that devas and spirits made heavenly offerings by showering him with sacred waters from the sky. That is why on Vesak Day, temples set out altars with small statues of an infant Buddha, as well as small basins filled with water and flowers, so visiting devotees can re-enact Buddha's birth by 'bathing' the statue with the scented water as a way to cleanse any bad karma. 

Vesak Day typically ends in large candlelight processions where you can witness the 'three steps, one bow' practice, and it is usually the Mahayana Buddhists (mainly from the Chinese community) who take part in this practice. For two hours, devotees shuffle on both knees, bowing at every third step while they pray for blessings and repentance. 

Theravada Buddhism is a division of Buddhism practised by Sri Lankan and Burmese communities in Singapore. Considered the oldest and more conservative of the two main traditions, it differs from Mahayana Buddhism slightly, including the unique Vesak Day ritual which involves cooking a pot of rice in milk to make a pudding – reminiscent of the rice milk that the Buddha received from the milkmaid Sujata, which gave him the strength to attain enlightenment. 

This milk rice pudding is relatively easy to make. Simply cook your rice with some milk, and you can include additional ingredients such as ghee, salt, honey, nuts and raisins to the dish.