Lantern Festival 2022

 

Lantern Festival 2021

 

Lantern Festival 2019

Today marks the start of Yuan Xiao  (元宵節) or The Lantern Festival—the climactic finale of Chinese New Year celebrations all over the world. This joyous tradition has been practiced for more than 2000 years, dating back to China’s Han Dynasty. It’s a time for gazing at the moon, enjoying lion dances, eating rice balls, telling riddles, and lighting lanterns for a variety of reasons.

Once known as Shang Yuan (上元), early lantern festivals were designed as offerings to the gods. Families lit lanterns near their homes to represent a holy place. Today’s lanterns vary widely in size and design. The Kongming lantern  (孔明燈—kǒng míng dēng) represents happiness while the sky lantern (天燈—tiān dēng) is lit for newlyweds or couples without children.

Families also gather on this day for a holiday feast, featuring yuan xiao—also known as tāng yuan (湯圓) in the South—rice dumplings filled with syrup and bean paste.

Many people write riddles or love notes on their lanterns, sending them skyward with high hopes of attracting their secret crush. The Lantern Festival is sometimes considered the Chinese version of Valentine’s Day—along with the Qixi festival (七夕). What could be more romantic than the sight of a nighttime sky filled with glowing lanterns?

Happy Lantern Festival!

19.02.2019-Tuesday-செவ்வாய்-Doodle-Lantern Festival 2019-PNG

Lantern Festival 2018

The Lantern Festival marks the first full moon of the new lunar year and the close of the Chinese New Year.
In a ritual dating back thousands of years to the Han dynasty, traditional lanterns as depicted in today’s Doodle are released into the night sky bearing messages of prosperity, unity, and love. Lanterns are often red, the color of good fortune. Some might even contain riddles, which may win the fortunate ones a small prize — a favorite pastime of little children over generations.
In observance of the festival, families feast on tangyuan (small rice balls filled with sweet red bean paste, fruit and nuts) that are thought to bring happiness and good luck in the new year. The round shape of the tangyuan symbolizes unity and togetherness.
Celebrations around the world include lion and dragon dances, stilt-walking, parades, and fireworks. Modern and traditional worlds combine as electric and neon lanterns float beside their paper or wooden counterparts, creating yet another beautiful memory of a lamp-lit sky for the year ahead. 

Early drafts of the Doodle by Cynthia Yuan Cheng.

02.03.2018-Friday-வெள்ளி-1-Doodle-Lantern Festival 2018-JPEG

02.03.2018-Friday-வெள்ளி-2-Early Draft of the Doodle-1, by Cynthia Yuan Cheng-Lantern Festival 2018-JPEG

02.03.2018-Friday-வெள்ளி-3-Early Draft of the Doodle-2, by Cynthia Yuan Cheng-Lantern Festival 2018-JPEG

02.03.2018-Friday-வெள்ளி-4-Early Draft of the Doodle-3, by Cynthia Yuan Cheng-Lantern Festival 2018-JPEG

02.03.2018-Friday-வெள்ளி-5-Early Draft of the Doodle-4, by Cynthia Yuan Cheng-Lantern Festival 2018-JPEG