Korean Buddhist Holiday ("Vesak") Lantern: "Yeondeung"

This is a Korean Buddhist lantern for celebrating Yeondeunghoe, the lantern lighting festival. Originally a religious ritual to celebrate the birth of the historic Buddha, called Shakyamuni, Yeondeunghoe has evolved into a national spring festival open to all.

During the festival, streets are hung with colorful lotus lanterns. The annual festival starts with bathing an image of the baby Buddha as a ritual celebrating Shakyamuni’s birth. This is followed by a public procession of lantern-bearing participants who, through their lanterns, express good wishes for themselves, their families and neighborhoods and the entire country. Lighting the lanterns also symbolizes enlightening the minds of individuals, communities and all of society through Buddha’s wisdom.


Buddhism is a religion in which people follow the teachings of the Buddha (Siddhartha Gautama) who lived and taught about 2500 years ago. Buddhists do not believe in a personal creator god. Buddhists believe in the Four Noble Truths, including that life is suffering because we are attached to our desires, but that suffering and attachment can be ended by living according to the Noble Eight-fold Path (ex. right thinking, right working, right speaking). The holy book is called the Tripitaka. It contains the teachings of the Buddha. Buddhists believe in rebirth after death (reincarnation). Their goal is to become Enlightened, to achieve Nirvana, and break the cycle of birth and death.
Source:
https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/yeondeunghoe-lantern-lighting-festival-in-the-republic-of-korea-00882