On Sunday, May 15th I had a chance to take part in the greatest event I have experienced in Korea thus far: The Buddhist Street Festival and Lotus Lantern Parade. Every year, this festival is held the Sunday before Buddha's Birthday. One of the main streets in Seoul was shut down for the entire day and lined with tents where you could eat traditional food, make lotus lanterns and other crafts, learn about Buddhism, and much more. We were there from 1:00 pm until 10 and didn't even make a dent in it.
We spent the day walking from booth to booth eating food, taking part in craft activities, watching street performances, and meditating in a temple. There was a huge temple right in the center of the festival. The outdoor area surrounding the temple was covered in colorful lotus lanterns: forming a ceiling for people to walk under. It was incredible. We spent some time sitting silently in the temple; watching as many people bowed to Buddha.
In the evening we attended the Lotus Lantern Parade that lasted 2 1/2 hours. Seoul, one of the most densely populated cities in the world, practically shut down for this parade. It was the longest parade involving the most people that I have EVER seen. Approximately 100,000 lanterns were used in the parade and more people than you could ever imagine. It was absolutely amazing!
In the park!
Lanterns in the park
Beautiful lanterns covered the entire city!
In the park.
Eating traditional temple food: rice and veggies wrapped in a lotus leaf.
Walking into the temple. It's hard to tell, but this is the area outside the temple. Lotus lanterns covered the entire area.
This is a Buddha magnet that I painted. It was just plain gold when I got it!
One of the many traditional street performances.
The Lotus Lantern Parade!
Beautiful!
There were so many people, beautiful dresses, and lanterns.
One of the floats!
I really think every person in Korea participated in the parade- at least that's how it felt! :)
The dragon was my favorite part!
Luckily for me, Buddha's Birthday celebrations did not end at the parade. The following Friday was Buddha's actual brithday which meant no work for me (or anyone else in Korea for that matter) . It allowed me to travel down south with some friends to explore the city of Busan!
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