Esoteric Calendar
Southeast Asian Calendar 2026
Nyepi, Songkran, Loy Krathong, Pchum Ben, and the intertwined Buddhist-animist spiritual calendar of mainland and island Southeast Asia.
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
Cyclical Rhythms
These cycles repeat throughout the year. Their dates shift with the moon and stars.
Browse by Tradition
Where Buddhism and the spirits share the year
The sacred calendar of mainland and island Southeast Asia braids two threads: Theravada Buddhism and the older animist and Hindu beliefs it never replaced. A Buddhist holy day and a spirit-festival often sit in the same week, and many festivals are both at once.
The year holds some of the most beautiful festivals anywhere. Loy Krathong sets the rivers of Thailand alight with thousands of floating candle-rafts, an offering to the water spirits given a Buddhist meaning. Bali keeps Galungan, the victory of dharma over chaos when the ancestors return, and then Nyepi, a whole day of silence and darkness across the island. Songkran drenches Thailand in water for the new year, and Vassa marks the monsoon retreat of the monks.
What this calendar holds
The entries gather the Buddhist holy days and the animist and Hindu festivals of Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, and the Indonesian islands. The thread through them is a religion of two layers, where lighting a lantern for the river and earning Buddhist merit are the same act.