Oeshiki: the 735th anniversary of the passing of Nichiren

[Akira]

On October 12th, Honmonji temple commemorates the passing of one of the most celebrated Buddhist called Nichiren.  Each community group of the area surrounding Honmonji offer a "mando", a kind of lantern decorated in a standardized style.  The community members marches to the temple carrying their mando.

The ceremony is not funeral but rather quite lively, and mando marches are accompanied by the bamboo flutes and the frame drums.

I've taken it a habit to visit the ceremony every year over the years.  Here are some pictures taken at and around Honmonji temple.

All were shot with Nikon D750 and AF-S Nikkor 50/1.8G.

First batch:

[Akira]

And this is the second batch.

[Akira]

In case you are interested in the ceremony, here is a detailed explanation on the official website of Honmonji:

http://honmonji.jp/foreign/en.html

[Jakov Minić]

It looks like Easter celebrations in Greece with a few twists of course

[Fons Baerken]

Thanks for showing, Akira.

[Anthony]

Akira, thank you for this interesting explanation and pictures.

[Akira]

Jakov, Fons and Anthony, thanks for stopping by.  I'm glad you enjoyed the pictorial.

Jakov, I'm interested in that Greek Easter celebration!

[Jakov Minić]

I am certain that a Greek member of NG can explain it better. While I was living on the island of Kos I remember that every small local church had their "mando" that was paraded through the streets to the main church where the most beautiful one was chosen

[elsid]

Jakov, you, probably, refer to the ritual that takes place on Good Friday evening called "epitafios" in Greek. Epitaph is the word in English with the meaning that the term had in ancient Greece, "funeral oration" honoring one or more deceased persons (usually those who fell for the country). For the orthodox church is
now the process of carrying an icon depicting the dead Jesus. 

[Jakov Minić]

Elias, thank you for the detailed explanation!

[Knut S]

Akira, thanks for shearing. I really enjoyed  this series.

[golunvolo]

So do I. Thanks. Beautiful story and images to put us there. I always hard to imagine an event that has been repeated every year for the last 700+ years, there are so few left with that kind of strength

[Erik Lund]

Somehow the first moon image stands out, very nice!

[golunvolo]

Somehow the first moon image stands out, very nice!

   Yes,

 I wanted to ask if the moon has some significance, and I guess is in the description in the article when he talks about the Lotus, the Sun and the Moon. I like very much that first one and also -but a little less - the second one.

[Lars Hansen]

I really enjoy this series Akira - thanks for sharing!