AP PHOTOS: Lotus Lantern Festival draws thousands in Seoul to celebrate upcoming Buddha’s birthday

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Holding umbrellas and pink paper lotus flowers, hundreds of South Koreans joyously crammed the moist streets of Seoul in an annual pageant anticipating Buddha’s birthday the approaching week.

Regardless of the rain, organizers anticipated a turnout of round 50,000 folks for Saturday’s Yeon Deung Hoe, or Lotus Lantern Competition, whose night parade attracts big crowds out to see the featured floats, some carried and others rolled on wheels alongside the downtown space of the capital, Seoul.

The pageant — which started greater than 1,000 years in the past and was registered as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2020 — goals to unfold the enlightenment of the founding father of Buddhism all around the world.

Hundreds of individuals gathered Saturday at Seoul’s Dongguk College, the parade’s place to begin, to go to the Jogyesa Temple the place hundreds of colourful lanterns have been hung on the temple’s grounds, forming the sentence: “It’s peaceable simply the way in which it’s,” which may very well be seen from the air.

Wearing raincoats, festival-goers walked by way of the streets with illuminated pink lotus lanterns and flowers. Others carried big Buddhist-themed floats, together with child Buddhas and the 4 Heavenly Kings — legendary deities defending the devoted from evil. Some floats featured tigers, elephants and an enormous dragon. There have been additionally cartoon characters, together with Charlie Brown, Snoopy and Lucy.

Buddha’s birthday, celebrated on Wednesday, is a nationwide vacation in South Korea. On that day, many temples present free meals and tea to guests. Festivities in temple yards and parks embrace conventional video games and varied artwork performances.