As usual Buddhist devotees observe the eight precepts. One important narrative is that on the Vap Full Moon Day, which marks the end of the three-month rain-retreat, the Buddha had taught the Abhidhamma to the gods of the Tāvatiṃsa. The legend is mythologically as well as symbolically important. The historical Buddha’s mother, Queen Māyā, who passed away after a week of his birth, was born in the celestial abode of the Tāvatiṃsa bearing the name Santusita. The legend tells that the Buddha ascended to the Tāvatiṃsa to teach the Abhidhamma to Santusita for three months. The three-month rain retreat commences in the month of Äsala (July) and ends on the Vap Pōya Day