Lotus Lantern Festival:
Buddha's 2549th Birthday Celebration (2005)
Many people who carried lanterns, had them suspended from metal poles that had hooks on them. |
These lanterns were supposed to represent the four gods who guard the points of the compass. |
Here is one of them a bit closer. |
A group of monks walking with little monks. |
Women carrying lanterns. |
More women carrying lanterns. |
This float was entered by Thai Buddhists living in Seoul. |
Another picture of the float a bit closer. It was much brighter in person. |
If I remember right, the announcer said these were Buddhists from Sri Lanka. Seoul is a big city of about 11 million people. So, it's nice that they reflected that in their parade. |
This was the float made by the Sri Lanka Buddhists. |
Here is one of the baby Buddha riding a white elephant. |
White elepahants are supposed to be a good omen. |
Here is a lotus flower lantern. |
I believe that this lantern is showing the mudra of supreme enlightenment. |
Another group of ladies carrying lanterns. |
It is interesting to see all the different shapes and sizes of the lanterns. |
Here was a group of drummers with gongs. |
Some dancers in the parade. |
Looking down the street, another baby Buddha comes our way as well as a dragon. |
Here is the baby Buddha. |
Here is the front of the dragon. |
Here is the dragon a bit closer. |
Another group carrying lanterns. |
A large group of bright lanterns. I kinda figured something important was coming. |
These were very large lantern floats. |
The head of this float is a lantern of the Buddha. These were long and had lots of interesting figures on them. |
Buddha lanterns with different mudras. |
This group was of different Buddhist dieties. |
Here they are a bit closer. |
Here were more dieties. |
And here is a close up of them. I really like all the patterns and details. |
I took a picture of these lanterns because they just looked different from some of the others. |
More Buddha lanterns. |
A lantern showing the Buddha and a tiger. |
Here is another long lantern. At the front is the Buddha. |
Here is a colorful, long, float with many different figures on it. |
Another view of the long float. |
Here is a lantern shaped like a tower. I believe they said it was supposed to represent an actual palace or something. |
Here was a "diamond" (vajra) lantern that turned. The diamond is an important symbol in Buddhism. |
Here was one of the really impressive lanterns. It was a phoenix lantern that would shoot sparks out of its mouth and its tail would fan out like a peacock. Unfortunately, it was too far away when it fanned out its tail for me to get a decent picture of it. |