Bon Dance and Lantern Floating Ceremony at Byodo-In Temple 2019

Last Saturday I went to the Byodo-In Temple for their annual odon festival. Byodo-In is a replica of an ancient temple outside of Kyoto and is part of a large cemetery in the Valley of the Temples in Kaneohe. I first went to their odon three years ago and had a great time taking photos. Last year it was raining, as it often does near the mountains in Kaneohe so I didn't even go. This year the weather was a little cloudy but it didn't rain, nice weather for photography. I started with the Bon Dance in the parking lot that was lead by two different groups. When I got tired of photographing the Bon Dance, I'd go to the Temple and photograph and then go back to the Bon Dance. After the sun set, a huge crowd gathered around the koi pond in front of the Temple and watched the Lantern Floating Ceremony. People had been writing expressions of love and prayers for beloved relatives and these were attached to wooden lanterns. Over 1,000 were released into the water.