Wesak in Borobudur

Yesterday was Wesak day, the day of Buddha Enlightenment. There was a very grand celebration in Borobudur Temple, which is around an hour drive from Yogyakarta. The traffics were very heavy in the morning. I heard there were a few Monks who came all the way here, and thus many Buddhist and travelers came, even fly from Malaysia. I was quite busy and only able to follow the night session.

When we reached there, we were quite late. It had passed the visiting hours and the guard wants us to leave our IC behind. Wing finally left his and we managed to walk pass the Guard Gates. Phew…. Then, we lost our way and a guy selling umbrella brought us in through the side doors. Haha. Now, we know how to break in Borobudur Temple. =P

The next thing I know, I was amazed by the majestic Borobudur temple. Never had I seen Borobudur at night, and this was….speechless.
Then, a few people offered us candles and we followed the parades, lead by a monk, around the Borobudur temple, accompanied by the chant. I am a Buddhist, but I had never followed a parade before and thus I was very very excited. After 3 rounds, we placed our candle on the ground, and there were many candles there, arranging in words of worship.


The moon was very very bright that night, forming a circle right at the tip of Borobudur temple, like an enlightenment of Borobudur temple. Marvelous.

Next, we light up the 孔明灯 (a huge praying lamp where you can wish for something and send up to the air). At first, we were just watching, then I asked a monk, “bisa tolong?” and to my excitement, he said yes! So, we started to help to light up almost 10 praying lamps with all different wishes. I accidentally punctured one praying lamp!!! I thought the monk would scold me or don’t need my help anymore. But, instead, he took another one, and wanted me light it up. Ohhhh… it was a great night. Seeing hundred of praying lamps on the sky, gradually getting smaller and turn into stars, carrying hundred of wishes, the feeling were great.

Me, Yinli, Leelee and Wing were separated from the groups when we rounds the Borobudur. After we lighted up the praying lamps, we started to search for the others. And due to some miscommunication, we ended up the opposite site of the temple and met 9 monks sitting in a row. I guess they are from Thailand as I heard them speaking.

We went back after that, contented.

我的梦想，被孔明灯，带上青天