This festival is held at the end of Lent on the full moon day of Thadingyut.  It celebrates the descent of the Buddha from heaven after he preached the Abidhamma (the most difficult Buddhist teachings) to his mother who was reborn in heaven.

          On or around festival day it is a custom to pay respects to elders by offering present of fruit, cake or longi (lengths of cloth worn as a sarong).  Elders include grandparents, uncles, aunts, teachers, professors, and lecturers.

          Every house is lit up at night, either with strings of electric lights, candles or paper lanterns.  Electricity being rather unpredictable, most families now just use candles and even then just a token few are lighted as candles are also rather expensive.

          The lights all over the towns look lovely and government offices often try to outdo each other in designing the decorations.  Various streets in the major towns are also lit up and closed off to traffic.  Food and handicraft stalls are lined up on the roadsides and Burmese shows of dancing and drama (known as pwes) are staged at one end of the main street.