Saturday, March 21, 2015

Bok Kai Temple

After lunch we took advantage of the holiday to tour the Bok Kai temple. It turns out there are lot of Chinese Americans who come to worship after the parade.

This is when the celebration began to resemble a Japanese festival. Fireworks, incense and wind chimes were being sold. Whole roasted pigs and fruit carried in and out of the temple, and lots of families eating on the grass outside of the temple.

We lined up - and it was a long line. Eventually, a gal came by and asked us if we were worshippers. She had us go in a different door and stand by the far wall to get the line moving for those who had come to worship. It was a good plan but ended up in letting us non-worshippers cut to the front of the line. I'm not sure that was the plan.

This building was dedicated in Dec 1880. I loved getting in to see it.


The worship reminded us of the worship we observed in Shinto temples. Rattles, incense, gifts for the gods....
This food seemed to be offered here and then ate outside
 




Scrolls were purchased and then thrown into the fire.....I wondered if they were like the prayers we'd seen burned at the Shinto temple.
Lots of fireworks
 


We have enjoyed a lazy afternoon. We slept. Arielle went out to babysit for a few hours. We had leftovers for dinner. I discovered I'm out of key ingredients for my planned potluck offerings tomorrow. Michael is reading Magician's Nephew to the kids.  I'm caught up with the blog. A new week can begin.

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