This weekend I had the chance to see one of Seoul's great festivals. On April 24th was the beginning of a week long celebration of Buddha's Birthday. His birthday is celebrated on the eighth day of the fourth lunar month, which, this year falls on May 2nd. Today, about one-quarter of Koreans are Buddhist and this week was no doubt a big cause for celebration for them. Every year Seoul hosts the "100,000 Lotus Lantern Festival" in which hundreds of thousands of people come to see. It is apparently the largest of its kind in the world. I was fortunate enough to witness this great event and defintiely wasn't disapointed
.The streets in front of Jogyesa Temple in downtown Seoul was filled with thousands of people enjoying food and activities. There were hundreds of booths offering the chance to make a Buddhist rosary, try a rubbing of a Buddhist sutra, or you could even make your own lantern, which is said to help one attain enlightenment in the next life. It was amazing to see of these people together, some in full constume celebrating so proudly.
The food was good, the lanterns were amazing and the atmopshere was incredible.
