Next weekend is Buddha's birthday. In preparation, the city of Seoul hangs lanterns along several of the main city streets.
One of the best spots to check out the festivities is along a stream that runs through Seoul's downtown.
There was a lantern parade on Sunday night, so to get ready, we decided to tour on of the Buddhist temples in the heart of the city. Bongeunsa temple is located directly across from the world famous COEX mall. It's pretty ironic that a religion with a heavy emphasis on giving up worldly desires is 50 feet from a Basic House (Korea's Gap) and a Starbucks. Anyways, a couple of elephant statues welcome you into the temple.
A large drum and several painted guards look over the entryway.
Savannah got to make her own lantern.
Everyone places their prayers and concerns on tags, then hangs them on a lantern around the temple.
Here, a man takes part in a ritual in which water is poured onto a Buddha statue.
The view from behind the main temple was beautiful. An International Park Hotel serves as the background.
This rather large Buddha is at the center of the temple. It's an impressive sight.
Inside of one of the temple buildings was a lantern display. Here are a couple of my favorites.
After that was the lantern parade. By the time the parade started, the weather was cold and rainy. The mood was cheerful and one of the parading monks actually gave me a lantern. It was a really neat experience.
If you look, the third monk from the left is looking my direction. He walked over and gave me his lantern after I took this picture. Below, Savannah poses with our new TV top decoration.
The cold weather forced us to head home earlier than we had hoped, but it was still an amazing day even if it was cut short. Here are some slideshows.
First, our visit to the temple. (There are a couple of random photos from our mall visit)Second, our photos from the parade. The rainy weather made getting decent pictures a hassle, so please excuse the lower quality.
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