This week theme is : Classic 

Gozan no Okuribi (五山の送り火 ）

Toriigata (鳥居形) Mandara Mountain

August 16,2007 Kyoto Japan

Gozan no Okuribi (五山送り火), more commonly known as Daimonji (大文字), is one of the iconic festivals of Kyoto, Japan. It is the culmination of the O-Bon festival on August 16th, in which five giant bonfires are lit on mountains surrounding the city. It signifies the moment when the spirits of deceased family members, who are said to visit this world during O-Bon, are believed to be returning to the spirit world—thus the name Okuribi (送り火) (roughly, “send-off fire”).

Starting at 8PM, the giant bonfires are lit, each with a distinctive shape. Three of the fires form giant Japanese characters, and two form familiar shapes. The characters, their locations, meanings, and the lighting times are:

• Daimonji (大文字), the character meaning “large” or “great:”
  • on Daimonji-Yama/Higashi-Yama, Nyoigatake at 8:00PM
• Myō/Hō (妙・法), the characters meaning “excellent law” (referring to Buddhist teachings):
  • on Matsugasaki, Nishi-Yama/Higashi-Yama at 8:10PM
• Funagata (舟形), the shape of a boat:
  • on Nishigamo, Funa-Yama at 8:15PM
• Hidari Daimonji (左大文字), again, the character meaning “large:”
  • on Daihoku-San, Hidaridaimonji-San at 8:15PM
• Toriigata (鳥居形), the shape of a torii or shrine gate:
  • on Toriimoto, Mandara-San at 8:20PM

We wanted to go to Gosho ( Imperial Palace ) cause we might be able to see all the characters, but Arashiyama is a long long way and because this is a big event in Kyoto, we might be stacked up in traffic. We decided to stayed where we are and watch the Torii or Shrine Gate being lighted. I did not have any camera stand so Night shot was a bit difficult.

H ave a nice classical weekend everyone !!!

This entry was posted on Saturday, November 3rd, 2007 at 12:27 am and is filed under Photo Hunt. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.