Saturday, May 31, 2008

Wesak Day (Part 3) - the Parade

After the morning shoot at Brickfields and the afternoon shoot at Wat Chetawan, I was home for a cold shower. After shower, I was already so tired until almost fell asleep on my chair, but I know I wouldn't want to miss the Parade at night so then I drove all the way down to KL again, this time, the Dataran Merdeka, one of the landmark in Malaysia as their passing point.

Parade on Wesak Day

I reached there at about 7:30pm, the street were too quiet as like the parade will only begin few hours after. The people were almost too little for my expectation. I started wondering if I was too earlier...

Parade on Wesak Day

Luckily we didn't have to wait too long until we saw the parade passing by. About 8pm+, we can see the "flowery cars" and a crowd of devotees started to walk towards us, most of them were carrying the lotus flower with burning candles.

Parade on Wesak Day

Parade on Wesak Day

Parade on Wesak Day

Parade on Wesak Day

Parade on Wesak Day

Parade on Wesak Day

Parade on Wesak Day

Parade on Wesak Day

Parade on Wesak Day
Some monks were sitting on the "flowery cars" sprinkling the holy waters to the people walked by.

Parade on Wesak Day

Parade on Wesak Day
Some were entertaining the people by presenting a more contemporary songs.

Parade on Wesak Day

Parade on Wesak Day
Kids leading the team by singing the song of Lord Buddha.

Parade on Wesak Day

The parade ended around 10pm, also ended my one whole day shoot of Wesak.

It was extremely tired but I really enjoy that feeling, somehow it reminded me of the days shooting "the Roots" year ago, non-stop running, shooting and sweating all day long in order to catch, observe and learning every new things appear infront of my eyes. I love that feeling, because after the cold shower at night, it felt like I had gone through a complete and meaningful day.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Wesak Day (Part 2) - Wat Chetawan

Wesak Day @ Wat Chetawan

Continued from the last post, after the shoot at Brickfields, we had our lunch at A&W Taman Jaya and then headed to Wat Chetawan Temple at Jalan Gasing, PJ. Wat Chetawan Temple is a Thai temple, it has a very beautiful architectures. The crowds at that time wasn't as packed as at Brickfields.

Wesak Day @ Wat Chetawan
The main gate.

Wesak Day @ Wat Chetawan
The main hall (The Bot).

Wesak Day @ Wat Chetawan
The area where you get to go one round donating coins and ringing the bells.

Wesak Day @ Wat Chetawan
Here goes Xiang ringing the bell.

Wesak Day @ Wat Chetawan
Devotees used the golden papers to paint on the Lord Buddha's statue.

Wesak Day @ Wat Chetawan

Wesak Day @ Wat Chetawan
The blessing area in the main hall. The monks will so some chanting and then they will sprinkle you with the holy water.

Wesak Day @ Wat Chetawan

Wesak Day @ Wat Chetawan
What is this? Blessing for wealth?

Wesak Day @ Wat Chetawan
The young monk.

Wesak Day @ Wat Chetawan

Wesak Day @ Wat Chetawan

Wesak Day @ Wat Chetawan
The little prayer.

Wesak Day @ Wat Chetawan

Wesak Day @ Wat Chetawan
Back to the ringing bells area.

Wesak Day @ Wat Chetawan

Wesak Day @ Wat Chetawan

Wesak Day @ Wat Chetawan

Wesak Day @ Wat Chetawan
......

Then I saw a very long line, I walked forward and realized it was for bathing the Buddha statue. I was so excited because I didn't manage to shoot one from Brickfields that morning. Me and Xiang lined up and waiting for our turn too. After that I stayed and shoot for some times until I get the right shots I want.
Wesak Day @ Wat Chetawan

Wesak Day @ Wat Chetawan

Wesak Day @ Wat Chetawan

Wesak Day @ Wat Chetawan

Wesak Day @ Wat Chetawan

Wesak Day @ Wat Chetawan
A little girl offering donations to a group of Buddha statues.

Wesak Day @ Wat Chetawan

In that evening, we did some prayers, donations and lots of photographs; although it was very hot and tiring, but it sure is a worth visiting experience. We left there around 5pm, went home to take bath and ready to go Dataran Merdeka for the next shoot - the parade.

Friday, May 23, 2008

Wesak Day (Part 1) - Buddhist Maha Vihara

Wesak Day @ Brickfield
Wesak Day (Vesak Day) is celebrated as the birthdate, as well as to commemorate Him reaching Enlightenment and His death.

Franky say, I had never celebrated Wesak Day, at least that's what I remember.
So this year, I ask people around for the best place/temple to shoot photos. Since most of them were suggesting about Brickfield, so I decided to go there this year.

I am glad that I could finally had an outing with Ah Lick, a best friend of mine who works now as a fulltime photographer.
Wesak Day @ Brickfield

We reach the Buddhist Maha Vihara in Brickfields around 10pm. The temple is very crowded, you get to see all sort of people, black white yellow brown coming to this place to celebrate Wesak.

Wesak Day @ Brickfield
The road leading to the temple. There were stalls selling flowers, books, and some donation booths. You can see there were many beggars along the road too.

Wesak Day @ Brickfield
The main gate known as the Sanchi Gate. We walked in and started taking photos around.

Wesak Day @ Brickfield

Wesak Day @ Brickfield

Wesak Day @ Brickfield

Wesak Day @ Brickfield

Wesak Day @ Brickfield

Wesak Day @ Brickfield

Wesak Day @ Brickfield

Wesak Day @ Brickfield

Wesak Day @ Brickfield

Wesak Day @ Brickfield
They kept refill the oil lamps to make sure that the flames do not go out.

Wesak Day @ Brickfield

Wesak Day @ Brickfield

Wesak Day @ Brickfield
Volunteers for the blood donation.

Wesak Day @ Brickfield

Wesak Day @ Brickfield
Children art competition.

Wesak Day @ Brickfield

Wesak Day @ Brickfield
Devotees from different races.

Wesak Day @ Brickfield

Wesak Day @ Brickfield

Wesak Day @ Brickfield
The Bodhi Tree, the same species which Gautama Buddha meditated under and achieved Enlightenment.

Wesak Day @ Brickfield

Wesak Day @ Brickfield

Wesak Day @ Brickfield

Wesak Day @ Brickfield
Lotus fountain used as a wishing well.

Wesak Day @ Brickfield
Throwing coins into the well wishing for good lucks.

Wesak Day @ Brickfield

Wesak Day @ Brickfield
A kid was donating money to the beggars.


We left the place around 1pm. It wasn't like what I expected, I realized there actually has not much of interesting things to shoot. I ended up shooting hundreds of pictures but there aren't many that I really satisfied.

After had our lunch at A&W, I decided to visit another temple, the Wat Chetawan, which is a Thai temple to hunt for more interesting shots. I will share the photos here after this.