The Soul of Seoul

// Don’t Miss the Lotus Lantern Festival!//

This weekend is the annual Lotus Lantern Festival here in Seoul in celebration of Buddha’s Birthday. It’s an event not to be missed. In my almost seven years here, I think it is the only event that I have attended every year. I’ve done everything from take part in the many cultural experience booths to make the small and large lotus lanterns, Buddhist beaded bracelets, and masks to watching the parade and finally ending by dancing in the finale party under thousands of lotus petals falling from the sky. It runs for two days and this year, I am a part of the first group of foreign volunteers to help with the event. Look for me in a white traditional Korean shirt on the street in front of Jogyesa Temple. Each member of my team will be conducting interviews with festival attendees and if you help us with the interview, you get a special gift! Other teams in our group will be providing assistance in different languages at booths along the street to those that hope to make some Buddhist gifts to take home. We’ll be dancing as well and if you’re nearby, certainly don’t hesitate to jump in!

The Lotus Lantern Festival, called Yeon Deung Hoe in Korean, will celebrate Buddha’s birthday, which is next Friday, May 17th. The festival will bring together over 300,000 people, some Buddhist, some not Buddhist, many Korean and many foreign. This is a festival that truly brings everyone together and is a great event to remember how close we all really are.

This festival can be traced all the way back to the Silla Kingdom period in Korea (57BC - 935AD) and as such was designated as an Intangible Cultural Heritage by the Cultural Heritage Administration in Korea. It draws one of the biggest crowds of any event in Korea and is important not only for religious reasons but also for cultural and artistic reasons as well.

Saturday evening is the highlight of the whole festival, the lantern parade. The parade will start with a Buddhist Cheer Rally, or Eoulim Madang, at Dongguk University Stadium. Here all of the people who will carry the lanterns in the parade will dance in unison to prepare. There will be a ceremony to bath the baby Buddha, and a Dharma ceremony to start everyone off.

The actual parade will begin at 7 on Jongno Street in Dongdaemun and will end at Jogyesa Temple. Spectators will be able to see floats in the shapes of elephants for the Bodhisattva of Action, the baby Buddha in a Palanquin Lion for the Bodhisattva of Wisdom, and the Four Guardians as well as many many more big and small floats and lanterns that will light up the night sky for two hours. The lanterns are made by more than 100,000 Buddhists at more than 100 temples.

The parade starts at 7, however chairs will be set up for spectators along the route a couple hours before and I suggest getting there early to get a good seat. I have generally tried to get there an hour earlier or more to get a seat in the front row. Also, as the final celebration will be celebrated at the intersection where Jonggak Station is, those seats will be taken much earlier. Don’t fret though, grab a seat closer to the beginning of the route and then you can follow the parade to the party once they pass.There are areas specifically designated for foreigners to make sure you get a seat, but in my experience, you can sit anywhere. It’s really first come first served, except in the VIP section which is designated for certain special guests in front of Pagoda Park.

After the parade, don’t leave! There’s an opportunity for you to get involved as well. The Post-Parade Celebration, Hoehyang Hanmadang, will take place in front of Bosin-gak at the Jonggak intersection. There will be concerts and to get everyone good and happy a huge train dance, as they call it here. Be ready to jump in to the line and hold on as the train goes and goes until finally the best part at the very end when the petals rain down on everyone. A great way to spend a Saturday night.

Sunday, from 12 to 7 the street in front of Jogyesa Temple, from Anguk to the Jonggak intersection will be covered with cultural experience booths. People can make their own lantern, A Buddhist bracelet, a traditional doll, a traditional mask and learn about not only Korean Buddhism but Buddhism in Thailand, Japan, Sri Lanka and other places near and far. There is tons to experience and it’s great for families and friends.

There will be performances and concerts along the street as well and even a mini parade in the evening if you didn’t make it out on Saturday night.

10 / 05

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01 / 07

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// Lotus Lantern Parade Illuminations//

Over a 100,000 lanterns ranging in shape from tigers, elephants and birds to lotus flowers and mythical creatures could be seen this past weekend in the ever amazing Lotus Lantern Festival in celebration of Buddha’s birthday. Traditionally celebrated on the eighth day of the fourth month of the lunar calendar, this year Buddha’s birthday falls on May 28th. Since the beginning of the month lanterns have been strung up throughout the country to get everyone in the festive spirit and that spirit could certainly be felt throughout the crowds that filled the streets from Dongdaemun to Jogyesa Temple on Saturday for the lantern illuminations.

Buddhism was first introduced to Korea in 372, a time when the main religion was Shamanism. Seeing no conflict between Buddhism and the nature worshipping of Shamanism, a special kind of Buddhism emerged. The fundamental teachings of Buddha combined with the three highly regarded spirits of Shamanism to produce Korean Buddhism. Still today, shrines worshipping the Shamanistic spirits Sanshin, the Mountain Spirit, Toksong, the Recluse, and Chilsong, the Spirit of the Seven Stars or the Big Dipper, can be seen in many Buddhist temples around the country. Korean Buddhism was at its height during the Goryeo Dynasty, which reigned from 918 to 1392, but suffered a long repression during the Joseon Dynasty that would last some 500 years and it wouldn’t gain importance again until after WWII. Today, some 25% of the Korean population practices Buddhism.

The festival manages to bring together some 300,000 people, some Buddhist, some not Buddhist, many Korean, many foreign. It has become one of the biggest draws in the country for not only religious reasons but also for cultural and artistic reasons. Being able to trace this particular festival all the way back to the Silla Kingdom that reigned from 57BC to 935AD, it has a long history and as such this year it was also officially designated as an intangible cultural heritage by the Cultural Heritage Administration of Korea. This designation came after many months of discussion over whether the festival still holds the same traditional practices as it did during the days of the Silla Kingdom. Ultimately, it was decided that the practices being the same were not as important as the fact that this festival has lasted over time and, though changing with the people, has held a place in the peoples’ hearts.

The parade lasts for about two and a half hours with lanterns starting in Dongdaemun and making their way down Jongno Street to Jogyesa Temple. Even before the parade officially starts the parade participants gather together in Dongguk University Stadium for the Buddhist Cheer Rally, or Eoulim Madang, to get in the spirit of what they will partake in. Together for an hour and a half to laugh and dance surely makes that first step for the parade that much more exciting. The parade begins at 7, but to get a good seat, in the seats that are provided along the route, it is best to arrive a half hour to an hour early depending where on the route you plan to be. The closer to Jogyesa Temple you get, the earlier you should plan to arrive. Finally, to wrap up the parade, at 9:30 at the Jonggak Intersection participants in the parade and spectators enjoy a huge dance party under a shower of flower petals. The dancing and laughing lasts for an hour and a half in the spirit of dedicating one’s merit to others. Before leaving the area, make sure to see Jogyesa Temple with a ceiling of lit up lanterns to end the night.

28 / 05

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// Lotus Lantern Street Festival Galore//

Along with the spectacular parade mentioned before is the Buddhist street festival which is also a must. This year I was on the ball a month early and got on the Lotus Lantern Festival website and registered to be one of the 200ish people to make one of the eight sided lanterns for free. In years previous I never got on early enough to register and ended up making one of the mini ones, of which there are many booths available for those not so on the ball. But the eight sided one was definitely fun and at the end they gave “presents” as they said to the people with the best, funniest, most creative, ugliest, etc. lanterns. I didn’t win anything, but as my friend Sam and I decided, we won the experience… not to mention we got to take home our lanterns.

Making lotus lanterns, eight sided, or mini, making a rubbing of a Buddhist Sutra using woodblock designs, making a Buddhist rosary, eating temple food or talking and discussing the ideas of Buddhism with some Buddhists are some of the many options and booths to enjoy in this festival.

Jogyesa Temple is at the center of this festival and no walk along the street would be complete without a visit inside. The locust trees at this temple are over 500 years old and look as if they’ve just sprouted the beautifully colorful lanterns that float high above as you walk through the entrance.

Jogyesa Temple is the only major temple within the old city walls of Seoul. Though it has a short history, only being built in 1910, it is the headquarters of Korean Buddhism Jogye Order. You can see a large Buddha statue inside and enjoy the atmosphere under the clouds of lanterns during the festival.

If you didn’t make it this year, there’s always next year. And if you can remember sign up to make the eight sided lantern early! Lotus Lantern Festival

11 / 05

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// 100,000 Lotus Lanterns//

Arriving early to find stacks of chairs ready to be taken lining the street, barriers already set up one lane into the road and staff awaiting the cops to block traffic at the end of the road to start setting up just built the anticipation. My friend and I grabbed some chairs forty-five minutes prior to the set start time and placed ourselves just behind the ropes to get the best seats in the house. We were down near the end of the show near Insa-dong and Jogyesa Temple. Watching as the cops slowly blocked off traffic on this busy thoroughfare in the center of Seoul and more people started filing in and grabbing seats made my knees start knocking together. It was the same feeling every year when I was younger back home living in the suburbs of Dayton. The parade may have been a bit smaller with mostly local highschool bands, color guards and cheerleaders but the excitement as we walked up to the main strip, or Stroop as is its name, getting out our blankets to sit on to watch was the same.

From Dongdaemun to Jogyesa Temple, along Jongno Street a parade of lanterns in the shape of the lotus flower or other significant Buddhist symbols flowed. As in years past it was nothing short of spectacular. The lights were brilliant and the people in the parade and watching were all in good spirits. The weather forecasted rain over the weekend, but Saturday and Sunday ended up being bright and sunny with a slight breeze to remind us all of what a friendly spring can look like.

According to Buddhist beliefs, the act of lighting a lotus-shaped lantern “will light up the dark parts of one’s soul. By doing this, the evil and flawed parts of one’s soul are stripped away leaving only a clean slate to start anew. Lanterns are also lit to dispel the darkness that is in the world, symbolizing one’s hope for a wiser and more compassionate society.”

This festival began in the Goryeo Period between 918 and 1392 and continued in the Joseon Dynasty from 1392 to 1910 and Koreans are still celebrating with this beautiful tradition today. It’s always a wonder to behold and I’m glad I had the chance to once again this year.

Lotus Lantern Festival

09 / 05

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