"YOU have ash in your hair," Caroline said to me as the pyramid of fire towered above the two of us.

The rain of burnt incense papers was not something I had expected, even though I knew it would be a big fire.

Its flames licked the sky as Caroline, armed with her camera, stooped, crouched and climbed to get a good photograph for the next day's paper.

I stood transfixed.

Huge bonfire celebrating Ullambana. ST PHOTO

In the night, the swirl of ashes above the raging 4m-high sculpture of prayer offerings – heaps of joss papers, incense sticks, fresh lotus flowers, even a paper Porsche – was lit by the perfect, round moon.

All around me, the Buddhist devotees of Bishan's Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery put their hands together and prayed.

Devotees praying at Bishan's Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery.
ST PHOTO

For them, the fire marked the end of Ullambana, the religion's annual day-long event on the 15th of the seventh Lunar month to remember the dead while celebrating their spiritual journey to a better place.

One by one, they walked toward the flames to complete the day’s ritual – by casting into the fire the provisional ancestral paper tablets that had been set up in the temple for them earlier in the day.

Some in the crowd sat down on the ground to rest their legs. One or two people called their family members who could not be there. Others snapped pictures. The lone voice of an old man chanting Amitabha rose above our heads.

The bonfire lasted about 30 minutes. As it waned, the column of smoke broke loose, spreading its still-glowing pollen yet further into the temple grounds.

As Caroline and I left to return to the office, she said to me: "I thought the fire would be bigger."

I nodded, and a few more ashes fell from my head.

Read more: Devotees pray for the dead