I was lucky enough to be invited to go to Nara for the Festival of Lights by a Japanese friend Mayumi and her friend. She also invited the two new teachers to Shirasagi Residence Heather, from Arizona, and Suvanya, from South Africa.
We were picked up in the early afternoon and set out on the 2.5 hour drive to Nara. Nara was a buzz with many people dressed in yukatas (as they like to do for festivals) and the first place we visited was Big Buddha. Before we entered the temple Mayumi showed us how to wash our hands and rinse our mouths using the fountain outside. This was the first time for me to do this, being shown what to do by a Japanese person made me feel more comfortable. Big Buds was still there as big as ever and both Heather and Suvanya were impressed at his size. Around the back of the Buddha both of them crawled through the hole in the pillar, so are blessed with good luck and fortune.
Next we stopped in to have some tea. First was a cold barley tea (which was a welcome relief from the heat), followed by a jelly type sweet topped in sweet bean dust and sitting in a dark, sweet sauce. Last of all came the green tea (yep, a 3-course tea). Heather and Suvanya were quite excited about being in the traditional style tea house and can't wait to attend a tea ceremony as they had a crash course in drinking it.
After wandering around for a little while we noticed that the festivities (candles) were being set up all around the town...white cylinders half-filled with water with a floating candle. They would be lit when the sun went down. We then had dinner at a vegetarian curry restaurant, a really small nook down a few crannies. The meal was delicious and consisted of a salad, lentil soup, curry vegetables, saffron rice, a poppadom and fruit and yoghurt. Thankfully when we left the restaurant the temperature had dropped a bit, and so had the sun...candle time!
There were candles just about everywhere...lining the pond...paths...the streets and throughout the parks. Once the sun was down we were surrounded by beautiful candlelight. It was magical. We visited the 5-storey pergoda and then made our way to the park. The three of us bought a lantern which had a candle inside, glowing along with the many thousands of others around. There is just something special about candlelight...