Meak Bochea Day, also called Magha Puja, is an important public holiday and religious festival.
Meak Bochea Day commemorates the final sermon given by Buddha, in which he summarized the "heart of Buddhism" in three principles:
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ceasing from all evil,
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doing only what is good,
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and cleansing the mind.
The group that assembled that day to hear him preach are sometimes called the "Fourfold Assembly" because of four factors that were in place:
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the 1,250 listeners were all "enlightened ones,"
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they were all ordained by Buddha himself,
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they came, according to the tradition, without being summoned,
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it was a full moon in the month of Magha.
On this day Buddha is said to have announced his passing from this world, which would happen three months later.
It occurs in the Gregorian calendar during February or March.
