Bodhi Day commemorates Siddhartha Gautama’s enlightenment while he meditated under a bodhi tree in Bodh Gaya, India, after which he became known as the Buddha. Japanese and some other Mahayana communities observe it on December 8 (called Rohatsu in Zen), while others use the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, and Theravada Buddhists mark the enlightenment at Vesak in the spring. The day may include meditation, chanting, study of the Buddha’s teachings, and some families participate in decorating ficus trees with lights or beads.