Buddhist masses were held at some 20-thousand temples nationwide to celebrate Buddha's Birthday on Saturday.

A service began at 10 a.m. at Jogye Temple in downtown Seoul attended by the Venerable Jinje, the highest elder of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism, Jogye Order President Venerable Jaseung as well as ten-thousand Buddhist disciples.

Also attending the event were General Secretary of the Korean National Council of Churches Reverend Kim Young-ju, a senior official of Won Buddhism and foreign ambassadors in Seoul including from China, Thailand, Canada and the Netherlands.

The mass at Jogye Temple began with a cleansing ceremony and the dedication of six offerings such as fruit, rice and tea to Buddha. 

In a message read by Culture Minister Kim Jong-deok, President Park Geun-hye noted Buddha's final message of lighting and relying on one's own candles, adding she will regard the people as her and the government's candles. She also vowed to secure the happiness and safety of the people. 

Sexual minorities, families of the Sewol ferry victims and citizens representing the socially vulnerable also took part in an offering of flowers. 

This year marks the two-thousand-560th year of Buddha's birth.