Though not by my creation, my child by God's design.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Lotus Mountain
Today we went to see Lotus (Lianhua) Mountain in the Panyu District of Guangzhou. It was absolutely breathtaking! There were lots of people there today because the 1st and 15th of the month are days to worship the goddess of Mercy. On the way there we saw several stores that looked to be selling huge bright gold fireworks. But our guide said they were incense to burn at the temple. Buddhists burn incense so the smoke will carry their wishes to the gods with the wind. Any offerings (money, fruit, etc.) that are left before the buddha statues are also burned to send up to those in heaven so they will have them with them in heaven.People named the hill Lianhua (lotus) because a stone on top of Pofu Peak looks like Lianhua (lotus). Lianhua Mountain is well-known for its annual lotus festival, when over 100,000 lotuses are in full bloom. Here are the pictures from today's tour.
In ancient times, Lianhua Hill was a stone mine. The ancient quarry site dating back to more than 2000 years is renowned for its rock spectacle celebrated as an "accidental man-made wonder from the nature's creation". These were awesome! Very tall!
The Lianhua Pagoda constructed in the time of Ming Dynasty, around 1612.
This is the blessing tree. People write their wishes on the red ribbons and throw them up into the tree so they will come true.
This is the goddess of Mercy
Fertility statue.
Statue of Mother Buddha facing the sea. She was HUGE!
These are the big gold "fireworks" (incense) we saw for sale!
Look how huge those incense sticks are!!!
| posted by SARA at 8:39 AM
