Buddha's Birthday/

LDS temple

Text: "Buddha's Birthday in Seoul" Buddha's birthday is a national holiday celebrated by the lunar calendar--the eighth day of the fourth lunar month. Buddhist temples across the country are decorated with strings of paper lanterns in lotus flower and other shapes. This year Buddha's birthday fell on Wednesday, May 14. We had the day off, so we took the bus up to Seoul and spent the day shopping and sight-seeing. We had a leisurely, expensive lunch at the Moghul (Pakistani restaurant) in Itaewon. We went to the big Kyobo bookstore downtown, then stopped by nearby Jo Gye Sa temple, which is the center for Korea's main Buddhist sect. The place was very noisy and crowded with worshippers and tourists.

(Page 2) The LDS temple in Seoul is tucked away in a quiet alcove off a steep, narrow street in Shinchon Dong. You'd never know it was there--you can't see it until you're right in front of it. Every time we went to the temple we ran into someone that Helena knew.

Lanterns and crowd at Jo Gye Sa [close-up]

Lanterns in front of a small temple in Shinchon Dong [close-up]

 

Specialty Paper: Thai unryu from The Paper Web

Background Paper (page 2): kinwashi white from Daniel Smith

Pens: Zig Writer purple, Pentel silver, Micron black (01)

The lotus lanterns cut-outs were designed from the lanterns on the Song Gwang Sa page. I picked two lanterns from a photo, scanned them, enlarged them, and made patterns. Rather than marking on the thin paper, I just put the pattern down on top of the unryu and then went around it with a craft knife.

The "Seoul Temple" title was from a computer brush-lettering font, cut out of paper with a craft knife. The angel Moroni on the spire was cut out of gold paper from Keeping Memories Alive. [close-up]

 

Click here for a great picture of Buddha's birthday lanterns at another temple.