The night of the full moon in this month marks the occasion of Waisak. (For these notes I am using the Indonesian spelling and date.) For seven years in Indonesia I was able to look forward to Waisak as a national holiday. But I never knew about the lanterns!

Waisak Day commemorates the birth, enlightenment, and passing of the Buddha. Tri suci in Indonesian – three holy or sacred events considered to be of primary significance to all Buddhist lineages. I managed to visit the Borobudur temple while living in Indonesia in the ’90s. But I never knew about the lanterns!

In high school we used to construct something similar from dry cleaning bags we had collected. Weight was critical. The best heat source we could devise were candles constructed from soda straws and melted paraffin. Straight pins would fix the homemade candles to the thin balsa strips at the opening of the bag. Anything else was just too heavy. The standard birthday candles, though about the right size, did not produce enough heat. Likewise, any other plastic bags were just too heavy for our version of a floating lantern.

I was very impressed when I recently discovered these pictures of the Waisak celebration at Borobudur. These lanterns are magnificent. I don’t know how long the lanterns have been a part of the celebration. Given 2500 years I am sure we could have gone beyond the stage of dry cleaning bags. This image shows just how far the concept can be developed.

Even more amazing is the sight of dozens of these floating lanterns in the air at the same time.

Now consider the floating lanterns with the backdrop of the Borobudur temple complex.

Selamat Hari Waisak!