Lantern Festival

Lantern Festival May 20 marking Buddha's Birthday which is on the 24th. Several people asked me how many candle's does Buddha have on his cake now, so I did a bit of research. A huge can of worms has been opened. There seem to be some serious disagreements over the question. The generally accepted date is 550 - 560BC that would make him around 2500 give or take a few years. But then there are people who are obsessed with historical research. These guys done some serious date digging and got to the conclusion that Buddha was born a lot earlier around 2621-1661BC. Now that's a lot of candles: roughly 3700. But methinks all that doesn't matter because what the man said is a lot more interesting.

Dongdaemun Baseball Stadium never looked so good. Thousands of people in colourful costumes, dancing around. The audience holding onto their lanterns getting ready for the evening procession was a lovely sight. Ellie my NZ gfriend and I joined the Hwagesa Temple's section. We were all given little bags of rice and pickles. Nice people the Buddhist they won't let you starve on their dos :o)

The evening procession was just as bright and cheerful. It's not exactly Mardi Gras not even Notthing Hill festival but holds it's own in happy tackiness. There were many quirky lanterns like fire breathing dragon and Korean historical figures. Pics on FlickR as usual. Go peak