Buddha's Birthday Bash
Written by Bessie on Sunday, April 26, 2009 in Korea, Republic of
Feelin' normal
Every year Seoul has a big street festival & parade in honor of Buddha's birthday: the Lotus Lantern Festival. I'd never been into a Buddhist temple before this weekend, and I was pretty excited to check a few out. We weren't alone as foreigners curious about Buddha's birthday, and in fact the organizers made us pretty welcome. There were booths galore and they made this pamphlet that if you visit so many booths they'll give you a free t-shirt. We wandered in and out of temples and watched festivities. Feelin' normal
making lotus lanterns; Shauna, me, and Sarah (also teachers) posing with our lanterns
celebrating with jenga block stacking
traditional dancing
dancing in traditional costumes underneath the lanterns near the temple
"shrines" where people can pour water over Buddha
And finally, the Bongeunsa Temple:
the front of the temple
praying inside the temple; 1 of 3 golden Buddhas; candle-lit red lanterns
lit-up coy fish; proud cow?
women carrying lanterns
woman coming out of a lotus flower; temple scene
As you've maybe come to enjoy, we put together a video capturing the parade & of course some of the funnier things.
Buddha's official birthday is May 2, so don't forget to get your lantern out and eat some vegan cake.
Comments on "Buddha's Birthday Bash "
Wow what a beautiful tradition-the dancing, the colors, the golden buddhas!
So much beautiful color in the celebration! Love the parade video :-D In such a high-tech, highly-integrated world, I wonder if the simplicity in housing and easy releasing of property (throwing out so much "good" stuff! LOL) is a result of placing the sustaining of culture/tradition as top priority?
I love these pics! The colours are so beautiful. What a beautiful concept. This is something I will now put on my list of places/things to see!
by Jane at May 01, 2009 08:15 AM