06/08/2026
There was an unusual turnout of children at Daigo-ji’s Lantern Festival yesterday. This is because the pictures on the paper lanterns this year are all drawn by them! People buy these lanterns from the temple ahead of time to write prayers and wishes, and naturally the children contributors want to see how their artworks are displayed. It also helps that on this day (same as on New Year’s Eve), people are allowed to hit the temple bell (under monks’ supervision).
The temple’s annual ceremonies on Aug 5 are an Obon tradition that not only honours ancestors, but includes the Segaki (施餓鬼) ritual dedicated to the forgotten, tormented or restless spirits. By offering food, water and prayers to the trapped spirits, or “hungry ghosts”, it is thought that their negative karma and sufferings can be alleviated.
昨日の醍醐寺・万灯会は、子どもたちで大賑わいでした。今年の提灯には、子どもたちが描いた絵が飾られていたからです。また、この日は大晦日と同じように、僧侶の案内のもとで鐘をつくこともできます。
8月5日に行われる万灯会は、お盆の伝統行事です。ご先祖を供養するとともに、施餓鬼法要も営まれます。施餓鬼は、行き場を失った霊や苦しむ霊に供養を捧げ、その苦しみを和らげることを願う仏教の儀式です。
#源氏京都 #醍醐寺 #万灯会