Sprinkling Blessings

Many schools have field trips to the temples throughout the year. These school children just came out of the temple and are ready for the final cultural step of the trip: Blessing sprinkling.

The giant bowl is full of "special" water. I don't know if anything is different about it, but I think it is blessed by the monks. Lotus flower buds are sitting by the bowl to be used as sprinklers after they are dipped into the water. You can either sprinkle yourself or sprinkle your friends. The kids were obviously having fun with it, and I'm sure it felt good in the hot weather.