Pages

Friday, February 12, 2016

Wish you a season filled with light, peace, and happiness from Nara Park





"しあわせ回廊 なら瑠璃絵", literally meaning "Happy Corridor, Nara Ruri-e", is an annual lighting event held at the mid-February in Nara Park. How about strolling around the spectacularly illuminated Nara Park? The stroll will brighten up your dark winter night and warm up your heart when it is the coldest of the year.

Three UNESCO World Heritage sites, Todai-ji Temple, Kofuku-ji Temple, and Kasuga Grand Shrine are lit up with the traditional modest light of stone, bronze, or paper lanterns, while the area between those three locations is fascinatingly illuminated with the modern blue lights.  As the name Ruri-e (literally meaning "lapis lazuli-painting") shows, the spacious Japanese Garden of Nara Kasugano International Forum Iraka (New Public Hall) is transformed into the Milky Way painted in ultramarine blue by blue LEDs. Lapis lazuli is the sacred jewel and color loved by the ancient Nara People.  

The way to the New Public Hall

On entering the garden, azure Milky Way is spreading before you. 
Shooting stars sometimes streak on the surface. 


The twinkling sea of shades of blue as far as you can see

The winter Milky Way looks darker in the sky 
but this Milky Way on the earth is so brilliant that looks penetrating the glasses of the architecture.
A real crescent moon above the roof

Walking along the Milky Way toward the Corridor of Light

Corridor of Light




A stream outside of the Corridor

Outside views seen from the Corridor of Light






In the back garden after going through the Corridor of Light from the front garden

At the 夢風広場 (Yume Kaze Square meaning Dream-wind-square), 
Japanese “wagasa”, or oil-paper umbrellas are lit up and displayed.  






Finally I went to the Buddha Hall of Todai-ji Temple. 
It is closed but you can see Buddha’s face through the small window specially opened.

Vairocana Buddha 
Light of wisdom and compassion chases away the darkness. 

More about details including other kinds of lightings, see Happiness Corridors Nara Rurie 
(Feb. 8 - 14, 6:00 - 9:00 p.m., 2016)

Linked to Through My Lens
Thank you, Mersad, for hosting.

34 comments:

  1. Nara Park is always magical to me, but this celebration of light in darkness is awe-inspiring. I have never seen so many tiny blue lights as these! The lit umbrellas are very lovely. Thank you for taking me with you in these wonderful photos, Yoko.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow! So beautiful! Thank you Yoko, for sharing these lovely photos.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Spectacular, Yoko !!!
    I love the color blue is the color of tranquility, peace of mind, that makes us feel comfortable and at ease.
    The photos are wonderful. Thanks for sharing this beauty.
    Good weekend.
    Besos.

    ReplyDelete
  4. So glad you shared this dreamlike garden of light accompanied by umbrellas, stardust. It is a stunning display … the likes of which I have not seen before! It is as if someone took hold of a piece of cosmos and laid it at your feet like a carpet to give the eyes and soul a better view!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Greetings, Yoko! This is all mind-boggling and takes my breath away. Such a beautiful display and event. And I love the quote at the end, too. Thanks for sharing these wonderful photos. And a heart full of beautiful wishes is sent your way!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Absolutely gorgeous !!!!!! You are very lucky to be there !!!
    Thanks for sharing with us those beautiful fotos !!!!
    Have a lovely weekend !
    Anna

    ReplyDelete
  7. WoW vilken vacker park det blev. Där skulle jag vilja gå. Så vackert och tänk vad annorlunda. Nästan som våra Julbelysningar här börjar bli. Kanske har de sett detta.
    Ha en fin och härlig helg
    Jag njuter dina bilder.
    Kram Meta

    ReplyDelete
  8. That place is fullof magic! I love your photos so much!
    Have a beautiful weekend:)
    hugs
    Joo

    ReplyDelete
  9. Nara Park is magnificent, magical and fascinating to me! At live it must be stunning! I made a wonderful walk thru your amazing photos, thank you so much! Lapis lazuli is one of my favorite stones. The umbrellas are beautiful.
    Have a fabulous weekend!
    Love from Portugal,
    Ana Love Craft
    www.lovecraft2012.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  10. こんばんは。「しあわせ回廊」本当に幸せになる気分ですね。 奈良では天の川が見えますか、こちらでは北極星も霞んでいます。
     人工の天の川も素敵ですね。

    ReplyDelete
  11. That's incredible! I have no idea how it can be done but it looks a fairy tale. No Hollywood movie can compete with this! I wish I could see children enering the park during this event. Thank you, Yoko, you are a great poet of Nara!
    I published a post about your town and would like you to be the first reader)))
    Irina

    ReplyDelete
  12. Greetings, Yoko! And thank you very much for your kind and generous comments on Ocala! And now I got a chance to take another look at this beautiful post! Hope that the cold weather passes soon and that you are enjoying your life and your family!

    ReplyDelete
  13. they have chosen a lovely color to light the night.
    a magical looking event. so lovely to walk through I am guessing.
    thank you for sharing this!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Great event in the park. The views are fabulous and look at it, it's fun. Regards.

    ReplyDelete
  15. "しあわせ回廊 なら瑠璃絵" テレビで紹介されてるのを、よく見てますが、こんな風になってるのですね。鹿さんもいて、古都奈良ではのイルミネーションだと思います。子供の頃、まだ油紙傘がまだ使われていて、雨の日に黄色い無地の傘(ありましたよね)で母親が幼稚園にお迎えに来てくれて、子供心に変な傘で嫌だったこと覚えてます。こんなカラフルな傘だったらきっとワクワクして家に着いたかもしれないと。。。

    ReplyDelete
  16. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Wow !
    This post is awesome; pictures are cool !
    Happy Valentine's day !

    ReplyDelete
  18. Wow - the lighting, and your photos, are spectacular!!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Yoko, this is amazing......I'd love to be there in person! Thanks for sharing your beautiful images.
    Have a lovely week....

    Happy Valentines Day!
    Ruby

    ReplyDelete
  20. Never have seen anything like that. When they do light shows here nothing is put on the ground to walk on. How neat be there.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Your pictures of the lights at Nara park have taken my breath away.... so beautiful! I have never seen anything like that, and I would love to see the lights in person. The paper umbrellas too, really gorgeous. Every time I see your photos, I think I have to buy a ticket to Japan!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Those twinkling lights are stunning! What a place. Wish I could visit there. Thank you for sharing it with us in your lovely photos!

    ReplyDelete
  23. 和傘の透過光が、模様を浮かび上がらせてとっても素晴らしいですね。 
    私の近隣にはなかなかこのようなお洒落な催し物がないので、うらやましい限りです。

    夜景は手振れを抑えるのがなかなか難しいですし、このような中では三脚も立てられないでしょうから、上手く撮影なさっていると思います。

    去年は久しぶりに仕事を始めて、心の余裕が無くそれにかかりっきりでした。でも、家庭・家族・自分自身とは全く関係の無い作業に没頭することで、結果として無心の境地になり「ずっと見ていたのに、見えてはいなかったこと」が、自分の心の内に沢山あることに気付きました。
    全く不思議なことです。 そのせいか自分の内に有る殻というか、壁を克服できたとはっきり認識できるようになりました。

    今年はお仕事も続けながら、何か新しい被写体に挑戦できるよう、意識を奮い立たせていこうかと思っています。


    よろしくお願いいたします。




    ReplyDelete
  24. Just so magical and beautiful! I love it!

    ReplyDelete
  25. Wonderful, enchanting artwork, Yoko!

    All the best from Germany, UWe.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Que fotos mas increïbles.
    Me ha encantado tu bloc, tienes cosa muy interesantes te espero esta semana con un post de celebracion, elracodeldetall.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  27. What an astonishing sight, and what fabulous photos, Yoko. I would love to wander among these lights. I would think that to be in the midst of thousands of points of light must create an effect like being in a strange dream.
    In London I went to the Lumiere festival but I am fairly sure that I would like to visit illuminated Nara Park even better.
    When I was a teenager I lived in malta and the spirit of the Virgin Mary is represented by lights of a similar beautiful blue to this. In the case of Malta, I suppose that this is connected with the fact that lapis lazuli was a very valuable pigment in medieval times, and was usually reserved for holy and precious scenes in paintings, such as the robe of the Virgin Mary.
    I hope my comments here don't sound too rambling. They are just an expression of the thoughts that are passing through my mind while I look at your fascinating photographs. I'm going to send the link to T. as I know he will want to see them too.

    ReplyDelete
  28. It looks as if it must be a truly magical experience. I so much wish that I could go and experience it. I remember the temples in Nara as being wonderful places anyway, but this is truly exceptional. Thanks for sharing it with us through these great photos.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Thank you, Tode, for this comment. I hope you could return Nara in other seasons. Winter is not so bad as you saw.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Wooow!!! After this, I'm really at a loss for words.

    ReplyDelete
  31. i never know the use of adobe shadow until i saw this post. thank you for this! this is very helpful. montypythonlive.com/1000-watt-led-grow-lights/

    ReplyDelete
  32. Hi, I find reading this article a joy. It is extremely helpful and interesting and very much looking forward to reading more of your work.. make-christmas-laser-lights/

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for visiting and leaving a comment. I will visit your blog shortly. Have a nice day!