With around 20 days left before Buddha’s Birthday, South Korea’s largest Buddhist sect has held a lantern lighting ceremony in central Seoul. 

During the event on Wednesday, arranged by the lotus lantern preservation committee of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism, a giant paper-covered lantern shaped like the stone pagoda at Mireuk Temple in Iksan, North Jeolla Province was lit at Gwanghwamun Square at 7 p.m. 

The lantern stands 20 meters high at about 70 percent of the height of the actual stone pagoda, which is the oldest and largest of its kind in the country. 

Around two-thousand citizens, Buddhist leaders and rank-and-file adherents attended the ceremony. To mark the upcoming Buddha's Birthday event, the Buddhist order installed around 50-thousand lanterns across the capital city.