CNN PRODUCER NOTE     Amy072 had the opportunity to photograph the start of Buddhist Lent in Saraburi province, Thailand. Buddhist Lent, otherwise known as Khao Phansa in Thai, takes place for three lunar cycles and it is a time where monks stay in the temples and meditate intensely, she says. She says a highlight of the event is seeing people offer flowers as alms.

But she learned later on that monk dean of Saraburi, Phradej Phrakhun Phradhammapiduk, encouraged people to also give nonperishable goods so that they can be given to those who were suffering from hardship in other provinces in Thailand. She says during the ceremony, people offered a specific flower for alms known as the Dancing Lady Ginger, which she says is native to Thailand and Vietnam.

'These flowers are used to offer to monks to start the Buddhist Lent because not only are they beautiful, but they only bloom during the rainy season, which is the period of time during the Buddhist Lent,' she says. 'How perfect is it to offer a type of flower that only blooms during the Buddhist Lent to start the Buddhist Lent every year so that these flowers can be used to pay homage to the Lord Buddha,' she says.
- Jareen, CNN iReport producer