The ceremony of dropping flower lanterns

The ceremony of dropping lantern means to pray for the deceased, this is a traditional ritual originating from Buddhism.

With Buddhism, along with the release of living beings, bathing the Buddha, the flower lantern is a traditional ritual... usually held on the occasion of Buddha's birthday or Vu Lan's filial piety. In Nghe An, on these great occasions, many temples or local authorities in the province solemnly hold the ceremony of dropping lanterns.

In order to have a full night of lanterns, preparations must be made early, from making flowers, buying candles, ending lanterns... Currently, due to the convenience of ready-made lanterns, many people have buy and attach candles to flower lanterns.

Flower lanterns at the pagoda can be held in the hands of monks and nuns and Buddhists during the ceremony, placed on the table, arranged around the Buddha statue, around the pagoda grounds, in front of the pagoda gate, especially arranged into vivid images, bearing the symbolic meaning of Buddhism. Flower lanterns in the shape of "swastika" represent one of the good signs of the Buddha showing immeasurable merit, full enlightenment is used quite a lot. 

Depending on the location of dropping flower lanterns on land or on rivers and lakes, we can make flower lanterns from suitable materials. If you drop a lot of flower lanterns floating in the river, to avoid polluting the environment, it is necessary to use flower lanterns made of paper. To use "eternal", fixed, reusable flower lanterns, we must use flower lanterns made of plastic or silk...

Flower lanterns are often illuminate at the end of the ceremony, not only making the ceremony shimmering and magical, but also "lighting up" in each person gratitude for the deceased parents, heroes and martyrs who fell for the Fatherland.

Dropping flower lanterns into rivers and lakes requires careful, skillful, gentle so that the flower lanterns do not get flooded, turn off the candles... The location to drop the flower lanterns must be oriented to the wind, so that the flower lanterns will spread on the river or drifting with the water.

Currently, in Nghe An, the ceremony of dropping lantern does not only attract middle-aged people and women, but also attracts a large number of young people of all ages and genders to participate, forming a cultural beauty with profound humanity./.