BUDDHA'S BIRTHDAY

This year marked the 2545 year since the Buddha's birth. In Korea the Buddha's Birthday is a national holiday. Buddha's Birthday is celebrated annually on the eighth day of the fourth lunar month - it falls on May 2 this year. Every year they hold a special Lotus lantern Festival. Through lotus lantern, not only the dark become bright, but Buddhists believe that the light bring enlightenment to those who are in pain and are lost.

The lotus lantern custom goes a long way back in history. For Korea, the oldest records regarding the lanterns are from the Silla Kingdom (B.C. 57-935 A.D.) The lotus blossom represents purity and Buddha, and so it has been depicted in many paintings, decorations and sculptures in Buddhist scenes. Unlike other flowers, the lotus normally blooms in dirty swamps and lakes. No matter how dirty the water and surroundings may be, the blossom remains clean. This feature of the flower allowed Buddhists to believe that Buddha himself was like the lotus ― clean despite dirty surroundings.

Seokjin-am Temple
(Jinhae Korea)