부처님의 오신날 왈때 봄이 있어요

Another sign of spring in Busan is the celebration of Buddha's birthday.

Buddha's birthday is for Buddhists what Christmas is for Christians.  It's an important religious day, and in Korea, it's a national holiday.

This year is Buddha's 2556th anniversary.

To mark the occasion, I visited SamGwang temple (삼광사).  The name of this temple translates to "temple of the three lights".  It is located in the ChoEup district (초읍동), one of Busan's oldest neighbourhoods.  And it is unique because it's run by one of Korea's smaller Buddhist orders, called the CheonTae order (천태종).

In the day time, 삼광사 looks like this:

Homes in 초읍동, near 삼광사.

One of the main buildings of 삼광사.

A unique building, at 삼광사.

Building roofs, at 삼광사.

Wall paintings, at 삼광사.

A pagoda, 삼광사.

To mark Buddha's birthday, it is tradition to decorate the temple grounds with lanterns, and to hang ribbons of paper bearing prayers from them.  On the night of Buddha's birthday, these lanterns are illuminated.  As a result, the temple grounds are totally transformed...

Arriving at 삼광사 at dusk, on Buddha's birthday.

Prayer lanterns, on the way up the stairs to 삼광사.

A view of 초읍동, through the lanterns on the stairway to 삼광사.

Riding a dragon, over a sea of illuminated prayer lanterns.

More prayer lanterns, at 삼광사.

The pagoda, with lotus shaped lanterns.

Lotus shaped lanterns.

Yup, it's Buddha's birthday!

A view of the temple yard, towards the main temple building.

More prayer lanterns.

Still more lanterns.

White lanterns.

Pink and green lanterns.

Bigger lanterns.

Lanterns suspended overhead...

... contrasting beautifully against the night sky.

A view of 초읍동, from 삼광사.

As I left the temple, there was a lot of traffic on the road below it.

Traffic on the road below 삼광사.

Just before I caught my bus home, I turned and caught one last glimpse of the temple between some apartment buildings.

삼광사, as seen between apartment buildings in 초읍동.