The annual Lotus Lantern Festival, called “Yeondeunghoe” in Korean, is held on a rainy Saturday in celebration of Buddha’s birthday at the Jogye Temple in Seoul. This year’s parade of lanterns was scaled down over concerns of a spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, after last year’s cancellation.

Buddhist communities at home and abroad participate in “Yeongdeunghoe,” the Lotus Lantern Festival, via Zoom at Jogye Temple in downtown Seoul, sharing words of “hope and healing.” 

An event celebrates the listing of “Yeondeunghoe,” the Lotus Lantern Festival, as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage on Saturday. Kim Hyun-mo (right), head of the Cultural Heritage Administration, delivers a certificate to Ven. Wonhaeng, president of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism.

(Photos: Yonhap)

By Kim Hae-yeon (hykim@heraldcorp.com)