celebrating Buddha with lotuses

The lotus is one of the most common symbols of Buddhism. The temple in my neighborhood made and used hundreds of lotuses to help celebrate Buddha's birthday.

Everyone was given a foam lotus bowl with a candle inside... monks came around during part of the ceremony to spread the light of Buddha, by lighting our candles... to which we then proceeded out of the temple grounds and along the river. Below are some photos of the handmade lotus candles...

Not gonna lie - I wanted to keep mine! ...But we were to return our lovely lotus bowl candle... and they were all organized (like below) within the temple. It was gorgeous...