Ocean of Light: Dongdae Temple

By Aline Verduyn.

When my mum visited me in May of 2019, I was wondering what beauty I could show her. The cherry blossoms had already passed. Buddha’s Birthday was the only event coming up, though I knew little about it. After asking around, my dongsaeng (동생, lit. “younger brother”) gave me the best recommendation. “Go to Dongdae-sa [동대사],” he said, “it is a big temple, and they always hang many lanterns for this holiday.” Intrigued by the beautiful temples in Korea, off we went on a Thursday evening to Dongdae Temple.

It was a part of Daegu I had not been to before. Following the map, we turned right off the main road and started noticing a string of colored paper lanterns leading us up a road marked by the setting sun. We knew we were heading in the right direction. It was a quiet neighborhood, with just the string of lanterns to guide us. This path was the perfect onset to what our eyes were going to feast on. A little downhill and uphill, we found ourselves at the entrance of the temple, and our jaws dropped at the twinkling wonderland. From left to right, as far as we could see, were lanterns of all sizes, shapes, and colors, all brightly lit. There were rows and rows of them, up on the hill behind the temple, over our heads, and in arches through the large courtyard. “We’ve arrived at the Buddhist version of heaven,” we thought.

Our cameras were busily snapping all angles. The giant paper-made animals, lanterns floating on the pond, and others dangling from the temple’s rooftops, together with a light breeze and nothing but the sound of the wind chimes, only contributed to the serene atmosphere one can only find at temples here. We were the only ones there, and for us, it was food for the soul. It was my mum’s best memory of Daegu. I guess May wasn’t a bad time of year to visit after all.

The Author
Aline has lived in Korea for five years across different cities and is now happily settled in Gwangju, where she is co-hosting “Way Back with U” on GFN Radio and working on her master’s thesis.
Instagram: @gwangjumiin