The Floating Lamp is a type of lamp that floats on the surface of the water. It is also known as a river lamp or lake lamp etc., depending on the water body in which the water lamp is floated. The water lamp originated in India and later spread to Southeast Asia and East Asia due to influence of Hindu-Buddhist cultural diffusion.

South Asia and Southeast Asia

The water lamps in the Indian culture is seen in various traditional festivals and sacrifices, especially the festivals on the full moon day or Purnimas like the festivals on

Kartik Purnima Kartika Purnima is a Hindu, Sikh and Jain cultural festival that is celebrated on Purnima (full moon day), the 15th (or 30th) lunar day of the month of Kartika. It falls in November or December of the Gregorian calendar and is also known as ...

, across South and Southeast Asia including the

Vesak Day Vesak (Pali: ''Vesākha''; sa, Vaiśākha), also known as Buddha Jayanti, Buddha Purnima and Buddha Day, is a holiday traditionally observed by Buddhists in South Asia and Southeast Asia as well as Tibet and Mongolia. The festival comme ...

Deepavali Diwali (), Dewali, Divali, or Deepavali (IAST: ''dīpāvalī''), also known as the Festival of Lights, related to Jain Diwali, Bandi Chhor Divas, Tihar, Swanti, Sohrai, and Bandna, is a religious celebration in Indian religions. It is on ...

Boita Bandana Boita Bandāna ( or, ବୋଇତ ବନ୍ଦାଣ ''boita bandāṇa'') also known as Dangā Bhasā ( or, ଡଙ୍ଗା ଭସା ''ḍaṅgā bhasā''), is a traditional Odia maritime and naval festival celebrated annually throughout Odisha ...

Loi Krathong Loy Krathong ( th, ลอยกระทง, , ) is a Thai festival celebrated annually throughout Thailand and in nearby countries with significant South Western Tai cultures (Laos, Shan, Mon, Tanintharyi, Kelantan, Kedah, and Xishuangbanna) ...

Bon Om Touk Bon Om Touk ( km, បុណ្យអុំទូក, , lit. "Boat Racing Festival"), also known as the Cambodian Water Festival, is celebrated in late October or early November, often corresponding with the lunar Mid-Autumn Festival. It marks th ...

, Songkran Festival,

Lantern Festival The Lantern Festival ( zh, t=元宵節, s=元宵节, first=t, hp=Yuánxiāo jié), also called Shangyuan Festival ( zh, t=上元節, s=上元节, first=t, hp=Shàngyuán jié), is a Chinese traditional festival celebrated on the fifteenth d ...

, Mid-Autumn Festival,

Water Festival The Water Festival is the New Year's celebrations that take place in Southeast Asian nations such as Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Thailand as well as among the Dai people of China. It is called the 'Water Festival' by Westerners because they no ...

, etc., have simple lamps and are made of plant materials such as flowers and leaves. The main meaning of the water lights in these areas is to worship the gods, send away the disasters, and welcome happiness. Some young men and women will also pray for a good marriage with water lamps. Water lanterns are also believed of guiding the souls in the water.

East Asia

China

As early as in the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdom ...

, the Water Lantern has been used in traditional Chinese festivals such as the

, Mid-Autumn Festival, Chinese New Year, and even

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

in some places like

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

. It has many names, depending on the water bodies in which the lanterns are discharged, such as 水燈 (water lantern), 流燈 (floating lantern), 河灯, 江燈 (river lantern), 湖燈 (lake lantern), 水燈頭 (water lantern head), and 照冥. The shape of the lanterns may be square or in the form of a lotus.

Korea

In both Koreas, the water lantern is known as 유등 (''yudeung'': light).

Japan

is a ceremony in which participants float paper lanterns down a river;

tōrō are a type of traditional East Asian lantern made of stone, wood, or metal. Originating in China, stone lanterns spread to Japan, Korea and Vietnam, though they are most commonly found in both China – extant in Buddhist temples and traditional ...

is the Japanese word for "lantern," while ''nagashi'' means "cruise" or "flow." This activity is traditionally performed on the final evening of the

Bon Festival or just is fusion of the ancient Japanese belief in ancestral spirits and a Japanese Buddhist custom to honor the spirits of one's ancestors. This Buddhist–Confucian custom has evolved into a family reunion holiday during which people retu ...

in the belief that it will help to guide the

souls In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

of the departed to the spirit world. The Bon Festival takes place on the thirteenth to sixteenth of August or July, depending on the calendar used. The peaceful custom is a gesture of respect for those who have died and gives participants a moment to think about their ancestors, loved ones or even past pets.

References

External links

Lantern Floating Hawaii
Official site of Hawaii's largest Tōrō Nagashi ceremony, held on Memorial Day at Magic Island in Honolulu. Presented by

Shinnyo-en is a Japanese Buddhist new religious movement in the tradition of the Daigo branch of Shingon Buddhism. It was founded in 1936 by , and his wife in a suburb of metropolitan Tokyo, the city of Tachikawa, where its headquarters is still located. ...

Hawaii and the Na Lei Aloha Foundation.
Tōrō Nagashi Video
A videoblog entry from the 2006 Tōrō Nagashi ceremony in Honolulu.

Website of the San Francisco Bay Area Peace Lantern Ceremony, held annually since 2002.

Website of 'From Hiroshima to Hope', in Seattle, the largest commemoration of the bombing of Hiroshima outside Japan.
History of the use of floating lanterns in South Korea
{{DEFAULTSORT:Toro nagashi Traditional rituals of East Asia Chinese culture Asian culture Japanese culture Indian culture Korean culture