Amateur photographers and nature lovers descended upon the Buu Mon Buddhist Temple’s gardens for a glimpse into the picturesque landmark for the 20^th annual lotus/garden festival on Saturday.

Andrea Garcia and husband Paul Bloyd Jr. made a stop in from Beaumont to see the luscious grounds where koi and turtles swim in ponds, lotus flowers bloom and bamboo grows tall.

“I’ve always wanted to come inside here, it is so beautiful from the outside,” Garcia said. “I love plants and nature and I think it’s great the city has this. It’s so gorgeous.”

In a back garden Joseph Griffin sat still, camera poised and pointed at a nearby pond where water sprinkled from fountains and aquatic plants and animals shared space. Griffin said he comes every year and has shown some of his photography work at the Art studio in Beaumont. He changed locations to the side of the pond where there was less foot traffic and, like a hawk, sat steady and still while waiting for a dragonfly to move to the just the right spot for a photo.

On the other side of the gardens Dr. Nikhil Raval, clad in a suit, used his cell phone to get a photo of a lotus flower. Raval isn’t a new visitor to the temple; he takes meditation classes there, he said.

Outside one of the buildings Johnny Truong manned a grill with the help of Thieu Ho and created Vietnamese pan fried rice flour cakes while inside there was a variety of foods and drink as well as novelty gifts for purchase.

The festival, which also commemorates the birthday of Buddha, will continue from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday at the temple, 2701 Procter St.