Tod Kathin falls at the end of the Buddhist Lent-a three-month period also known as WASO, Vassa, or Vossa in Southeast Asia. This usually falls at the end of the rainy season in October, on the full moon day of the month of Thadingyut. It is marked by a three-day Festival of Lights commemorating the day when Buddha returned to earth after his three-month stay at the heavenly place known as Tavatimsa. His path was illuminated by thousands of lights, and today Buddhists in the Southeast Asian countries of Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand set off fireworks, launch fire balloons into the sky, and float tiny rafts with candles on the waters to celebrate.