section_path: Structure/Epoch
section_name: Epoch
paragraph_text: Epoch
  
  In all Theravada traditions, the calendar's epoch (foundational moment) was the day in which the Buddha attained parinibbāna. However, not all traditions agree on when it actually took place. In Burmese Buddhist tradition, it was 13 May 544 BCE (Tuesday, Full moon of Kason 148 Anjanasakaraj). In Thai Buddhist tradition, it was 11 March 544 BCE, the date which the current Thai lunisolar and solar calendars use as their epochal date. Yet, the Thai calendars for some reason have fixed the difference between their Buddhist Era (BE) numbering and the Common Era (CE) numbering at full 543. In Myanmar, the difference between BE and CE can be 543 or 542 for CE dates, and 542 or 541 for BCE dates, depending on the month of the Buddhist Era (as the Buddhist calendar straddles the Gregorian calendar—currently from April to April).