Starting the new year, Thairath Online presents a calendar of Buddhist holy days in January 2026. This is to help plan trips for making merit, giving alms, and practicing Dharma at temples to accumulate merit and blessings, while also enhancing good fortune for the new year. Find out which days are Buddhist holy days in January here.
Buddhist holy day or "Wan Phra" (Dhamma Day) is an important religious day. In the Buddha’s time, monks were permitted to gather to listen to and disseminate the teachings for one day, which became known as a Buddhist holy day—a day for Buddhists to assemble to hear Dharma. Normally, there are four such days each lunar month.
Buddhist holy days in January total five days. Although there is no major Buddhist holy day in January 2026, merit-making on the usual holy days is observed as follows:
Chinese Buddhist holy days generally fall on the 1st and 15th lunar days. On these days, it is customary to worship the Earth God at home or visit temples for merit-making. The Chinese Buddhist holy days in January 2026 are:
On Buddhist holy days, devotees typically observe practices to gain auspicious merit as follows:
January 2026 Buddhist holy days total five days. Buddhists can plan their visits for merit-making at their convenience. Besides accumulating personal merit, this also brings auspiciousness in the first month of the new year.