Kyauk Taw Gyi Paya Festival

In the evening the food stalls come out.

All photos by Win Kyaing

Kyauk Taw Gyi Paya Festival

Kyauk Taw Gyi Paya Festival

The largest Buddha in Kyauk Taw Gyi is carved in marble quarried from a hill near Mandalay. All Buddha images sit or stand in a certain way and the position of their hands has a certain meaning or mudra. A seated Buddha with legs crossed, feet and hands both upturned and eyes down-turned are in dhyanasana mudra or ‘meditative’ pose. If the left upturned hand rests in the lap and the right down-turned rests on the right knee with fingers touching the ground, it is bhumisparsa mudra or `earth touching’ pose. Here the Buddha called on the guardian of the earth to witness his charity towards the evil mara that continually attacked him.

Photo by Win Kyaing

A tall slim Buddha here stood behind a wrought-iron screen and I thought the mudra might be one of the bithetkaguru or `healing’ Buddhas. His right hand was open, facing outwards and downwards with two fingers presenting a small fruit called hpan khar (Terminalia chebula retz)). This astringent fruit is used in traditional medicine for burns, sore eyes and longevity if taken with milk every week.

In the museum at the Maha Muni Pagoda are paintings of most of the mudra and we went to check out my theory – which was wrong. I learned that the bithetkaguru or `healing’ Buddha is seated, not standing and the image sits cupping in his left hand a covered bowl symbolizing a container of blessed water.

Photo by Win Kyaing

Kyauk Taw Gyi Paya

Kyauk Taw Gyi Paya stands at the base of Mandalay Hill. There are two other paya. One is half way up and demands much climbing up steps. The one at the top would have taken me hours to reach. So I was glad it was Kyauk Taw Gyi that was celebrating.

As has become our custom, we went at the beginning of the festival to avoid the crowds and to give Win Kyaing photo opportunities he would not otherwise have. In the covered walks were stalls selling flowers – a favourite being gladioli - and shining gold and silver paper flags atop slivers of bamboo – also to offer to the Buddha.

Photos by Win Kyaing

The most remarkable stall here was selling Buddha images. Some were carved in teak, but the majority in thanakha, which has far more uses than just cosmetic or medical. The tiny statues had the same degree of fine carving as had the larger images and thanakha is a creamy colour that lends an ethereal quality to the images. 

Myathalon Paya Festival, Magwe

Myathalon Paya Festival

Myathalon Paya Festival

The entrance to the Myathalon Paya in Magwe is in a particularly beautiful setting. It is right at the end of town and surrounded by forest. It is guarded, as is normal, by fierce-looking stone lions. The Buddha never came to Magwe, but he did visit a town directly opposite across the Ayeyarwady River. Two ogres, who were brothers, brought a mya tha lon, which means emerald bed, for the Buddha to sleep on. It is enshrined in the paya and a carving of the bed is displayed over the entrance and reflected in the name of the paya: Myathalon.

We walk upwards on a covered walkway where huge paintings depict scenes from the Buddha’s life, which are often displayed. What was unusual here were sixteen sets of two paintings. Apparently King Kawsala had sixteen dreams that frightened him and he asked the Buddha what they meant. One painting showed a man making rope at a table, beneath which a dog was eating the rope. The picture of interpretation revealed a group smoking, drinking and playing cards. This showed that you can make money by making something, but you will lose it if you have heavy outgoings.

Nearing the top of the hill, where so many pagodas perch in Myanmar, we came across two women filling infinitesimally tiny glass bottles with powder. The filling for one woman was fawn, the other, white. Apparently if you sniff it, it makes you sneeze and therefore improves your health or fixes an illness you may have coming on.

The white powder reminded me of when Hla Myo arrived in Brisbane Airport. I sat outside waiting for him for over an hour. All other passengers on his flight had long since gone into town. Had he missed the plane, I wondered? It was a huge achievement to fly to Australia from Myanmar having hardly left Mandalay up until then. But no, this was not the reason.  He showed them a little parcel that a friend had asked him to take to another friend (in Perth – I lived in Brisbane). A Myanmar man carrying white powder was of great interest to the airport officials. I assume my long wait was for them to test what Hla Myo called ‘licking powder’ and fortunately they did not find it a banned substance. To add insult to injury I then had to send the parcel by special delivery to Perth. Hopefully the recipient was duly grateful.

In a pavilion at the top of the hill was an old hti or spire of the pagoda. It was donated thirty years ago on the death of Min Htin Min Hla Kyaw Khaung. The present hti was impossible for us to see, because the entire paya was covered in woven bamboo mats. When the festival really starts, no doubt the mats will come down and the people will enjoy the beauty of the paya and continue to donate squares of gold leaf. A large notice stated that 6,200 squares were needed to decorate a particular part. As our paya-visiting itinerary was quite crowded, we could not return to admire the paya with its covers off. Fortunately huge paintings stood on one side so that we could appreciate just how magnificent it was.