Continuing the Week Celebrating with the Lantern Release!

Thailand hosts the Lantern Release festivals, comprised of events that usually take place over three days.  These three days are filled with religious and cultural events, street parades, and the release of sky lanterns.  The streets were closed down for the parade, but full of activity and life!

Before we released our own lanterns, a few of our travelers were blessed by a robe monk.  As the girls kneeled, they were adorned with a sai sin, or red sacred bracelets, and blessed with holy water.  The ritual with the bracelet is said to connect the channels of good karma within the blessed.

(From left to right: Christina Curry, Devon Giblin, and Devon Cornfeld)

The release of tens of thousands of sky lanterns signify a celebration called Awk Phansa, or the end of the Buddhist Lent period.  Traditionally, the Thai people believe that the release of the lantern is symbolic of their problems and worries floating away.  As the event has become more of a celebration  and tourist attraction, the lantern release has taken on numerous meanings.  In our own Lantern Release festival, we contemplated a wish to make before releasing the lantern into the night sky.

(Daniel Jaracz was our designated lantern lighter; great job and thank you, Dan!)

(Daniel Jaracz, in awe of his lantern release)

(Christina Andros, wishing a good wish!)

(Kristy Nguyen, hardly containing herself during her lantern release)

(Tourist participating in the lantern release)

(Goodbye worries, and hello well wishes!)