3am. Just back not too long ago from Vesak Celebrations.
My 2nd time taking part in 3-Steps-1-Bow ceremony. But it's the first time im doing the full journey (i was late last year). I realised how valuable our tickets were! (People with tickets are allocated in Groups divided into hourly slots that started from 5pm until 10pm. )
The ceremony commenced at 6pm, so by the time it was our turn (we held Group 5--9pm tickets), it was almost 1050pm. The one-round procession round Kong Meng San takes a typical of 2 hours. We ended before 1am. After resting and a little vegetarian supper, we left at about 2am, and the Group 6 ticket holders were JUST ENDING their cycle! I really can't imagine how long those WITHOUT ticket holders have to wait. The queue (easily 5000 people) from the Hall of Great Compassion all the way to the Hall of No Form will take at least 3 hours! I believe the ceremony will continue past sunrise.
------------------------------Anyway, I think the GUM team did quite a good job in publicity. The brochure could be found everywhere in the monastery! Since at least 15,000 devotees would have passed by the booths today, I'm sure the awareness had been raised.------------------------------
For those with NO IDEA what's 3-Steps-1-Bow, read about the significance in an entry a year ago: HERE
Lastly, Happy 2553rd Vesak to all sentient beings!
