Lotus Lantern Festival
Lanterns Galore!
What a fantastic, glorious day full of culture! This is what Korea is all about! In celebration of Buddha's umpteenth birthday, South Korea holds a grand shindig every year in downtown Seoul called the Lotus Lantern Festival.
Korean Revelers.
Around 3:00 pm this afternoon, I headed down to Insadong with my girlfriends Lindsay and Kelly for the street festival. We wandered aimlessly down the main street, checking out the various vendors and booths along the way. We were amazed at all the services the booths provided...just about every country with a Buddhist following was represented at the festival. Everything from foot massages to crafts to strange Chinese Medicinal therapies were to be had along the way. We opted for some face painting (mine was a total disaster that was quickly washed off in the nearest bathroom!) and skin stamps, and a random Korean man came up to me and mashed a bindi onto my unsuspecting forehead.
What was I thinking?
We watched numerous traditional dancing performances and ceremonies while inhaling some amazing Pad Thai. We eventually made our way to the festival's piece de resistance: Jogeysa Temple. The temple yard was adorned with thousands upon thousands of brightly-colored paper lanterns dangling from the rafters and trees. It was amazing, and words or pictures could never do it justice. I took loads of pictures before realizing that there was no film in my camera...I'll blame it on my lack of sleep as of late! I loaded my camera, and away I shot like a madwoman for the second time!
Lanterns hanging from the trees.
After we had enjoyed the beauty of the temple long enough, we stopped in at a Lantern-making tent and created our very own Lotus Lanterns out of paper cups and tissue paper (mine was so incredible that someone stole it later...or else used it as an ashtray). After completing our works of are, we began to make our way to the main street for the evening's grand finale: the great Lantern Parade.
Ladies with Lanterns.
A Gigantic Elephant Lantern.
The parade started around 7:00 pm, just as the sun was setting, and a glorious sight it was! Thousands of people holding glowing lanterns above their heads marched along the parade route for as far as the eye could see. Massive glowing elephants, sitting Buddhas, and even fire-breathing dragons rolled by as well. By 9:00 pm, there was still no end in sight, and we decided to put away our cameras and tuck into a restaurant for some soup.
Happy Birthday Buddha
After we had finished our dinner (the parade had finally ended sometime during our meal!), we made our way back to the temple for the post-parade bash. A loud band was playing happily hypnotic music on the main stage, and literally tons and tons of bright pink squares of confetti were flying through the air. We danced around, picked up some leftover lanterns, and by the time we were knee-deep in the pink snow, we decided it was time to drag our weary bodies home.
The After-Party!
This was definitely one of the best days I have ever had in Korea!
Korean Revelers.
Around 3:00 pm this afternoon, I headed down to Insadong with my girlfriends Lindsay and Kelly for the street festival. We wandered aimlessly down the main street, checking out the various vendors and booths along the way. We were amazed at all the services the booths provided...just about every country with a Buddhist following was represented at the festival. Everything from foot massages to crafts to strange Chinese Medicinal therapies were to be had along the way. We opted for some face painting (mine was a total disaster that was quickly washed off in the nearest bathroom!) and skin stamps, and a random Korean man came up to me and mashed a bindi onto my unsuspecting forehead.
What was I thinking?
We watched numerous traditional dancing performances and ceremonies while inhaling some amazing Pad Thai. We eventually made our way to the festival's piece de resistance: Jogeysa Temple. The temple yard was adorned with thousands upon thousands of brightly-colored paper lanterns dangling from the rafters and trees. It was amazing, and words or pictures could never do it justice. I took loads of pictures before realizing that there was no film in my camera...I'll blame it on my lack of sleep as of late! I loaded my camera, and away I shot like a madwoman for the second time!
Lanterns hanging from the trees.
After we had enjoyed the beauty of the temple long enough, we stopped in at a Lantern-making tent and created our very own Lotus Lanterns out of paper cups and tissue paper (mine was so incredible that someone stole it later...or else used it as an ashtray). After completing our works of are, we began to make our way to the main street for the evening's grand finale: the great Lantern Parade.
Ladies with Lanterns.
A Gigantic Elephant Lantern.
The parade started around 7:00 pm, just as the sun was setting, and a glorious sight it was! Thousands of people holding glowing lanterns above their heads marched along the parade route for as far as the eye could see. Massive glowing elephants, sitting Buddhas, and even fire-breathing dragons rolled by as well. By 9:00 pm, there was still no end in sight, and we decided to put away our cameras and tuck into a restaurant for some soup.
Happy Birthday Buddha
After we had finished our dinner (the parade had finally ended sometime during our meal!), we made our way back to the temple for the post-parade bash. A loud band was playing happily hypnotic music on the main stage, and literally tons and tons of bright pink squares of confetti were flying through the air. We danced around, picked up some leftover lanterns, and by the time we were knee-deep in the pink snow, we decided it was time to drag our weary bodies home.
The After-Party!
This was definitely one of the best days I have ever had in Korea!
posted by Tiffany Joiner @ 9:52 AM
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