Lotus Lantern Festival:
Buddha's 2549th Birthday Celebration (2005)
The lotus lantern festival is a big celebration for the birth of the Buddha. The street festival is held near the main temple, Jogye-sa. |
There are many interesting cutltural things to see during the festival. Several stages are set up along the street. This stage had a drum performance. |
Here are some wooden Zangsung. They are a kind of totem pole that was traditionally placed at the entrance to a village. They ward off evil spirits. They are usually set up in pairs, one male and one female. |
Here is a Zangsung that they were carving on the street. |
These ladies were demonstrating a bamboo instrument. Each one of them is holding one. These instruments are played by shaking them. Each one is a single note. It was kind of like playing hand bells. |
A few Buddhist monks on one of the stages led the crowd in a prayer. |
This is part of Jogye-sa temple. unfortunately, there are a bunch of chairs in front of it in this picture. |
At another place along the street, some buddhist monks were making a sand mandala. Mandalas are geometric designs that symbolize the universe. Sand is placed with the use of small metal funnels. I came by just in time for the best part. |
Here is the mandala they made. This was a very small one. Some can be quite large and elaborate and take days to finish. |
Now that the mandala is finished, it's time to destroy it. Making mandalas is a kind of meditative practice, and the goal is usually to promote healing. They begin by smearing it in a cross pattern. While one monk destroys it, the others chant, asking for healing blessings. |
They will then carefully sweep the rest of the sand from the outer edge into the center. Often, the sand will then be swept into an urn and emptied into flowing water to spread its healing powers. |
Here are the hanging lanterns at Jogye-sa temple. |
More lanterns at Jogye-sa temple. |
Another view of the lanterns. They are currently working on repairs to this temple as well. Seems like all the temples in Seoul have heavy equipment by them. |
Here is another building at Jogye-sa. |
Here are some Koreans bathing the baby Buddha statue. |
A close up of them bathing it. |
There was this long paper chain attached to a large balloon. I'm guessing that the papers had prayers or wishes written on them. |
There is the balloon. They released this later in the evening right before the parade. |
Here was another drum performance. |
Another shot of the drum performance. I actually took a short video of this as well. |
I thought someone once told me what this building was. But I can't remember. I should go back and find out. It's near Dongdaemun, but I know it's not Dongdaemun gate (which is much bigger and sits up on a rock base). |
A dance performance. |
Before the parade began there were several groups to entertain us. The parade actually started down the street at Dongdaemun market. This is down near the end at Jogye-sa temple. |
Here are some dancers. |
More dancers. All this stuff is very impressive in person. |
Another shot of the dancers. |
They also performed a short traditonal North Korean lion play. |
They said that this play was traditionally performed at North Korean villages to ward off evil spirits. |
The outfits and masks for this play were very interesting. The lions were especially neat. |
Another group of drummers. |
These drummers were really fun to watch. Especially the guys who had the streamers attached to their hats. They spun around as they danced in a circle. |
During the parade, they passed out little cardboard lanterns for us. It was just a little cardboard box, with a candle, piece of foil, a wire and a stick. I liked the fact that the candle has a piece of double sided tape on the bottom to keep it in place on the foil. It got cold that night so I was glad for the candle warmth during the parade. |
Yay! Finally, the parade begins! The first large float leading the parade was one of the Buddha turning the wheel of the law. |
Here is the same one a bit closer. |
A lantern of the baby Buddha. |
Here is a group of men in traditional clothes, carrying lanterns. |
A group of monks carrying lanterns. |
Women in hanboks carrying lanterns. |
More hanging lanterns. |