Sunday 14 June 2015

Thi Ho Shin Pagoda Festival

We are running around outside the pagoda or paya from one side to the other. No two more enthusiastic pilgrims have ever been seen. Why? Because we are shoe-less as one has to be, not just inside the paya but around the compound outside too. And, I learned a valuable lesson that marble is much cooler to walk on than large shiny tiles or even cement. We dart from one tree-shaded marble spot to another and find a bench beneath a tree: perfect to admire this outstandingly beautiful pagoda.
On all four sides of the main spire radiate identical smaller spires: each in gold too. I learn that in the old days these smaller spires were painted white with lime. But each wet season, the lime dripped away unattractively and had to be re-done. Now gold is used which lasts much longer and radiates the sun’s rays into the atmosphere.
The diamond shaped top of the hti or umbrella is always the highest point of a paya. It is of – and contains much - gold and many jewels. A portrait of this hti shows rings and earrings and pendants of rubies, sapphires and diamonds.
We walk the aisles inside the paya where there are many sitting or standing Buddha images. Each has its individual wooden ‘cupboard’ with a pane of glass sealed in front to keep the image clean. Pakokku is in Myanmar’s central arid zone and, particularly in the rainless season, dust piles high on everything.
The middle standing Buddha image at the main altar came from Thi Ho or Sri Lanka, which was known in the past as Ceylon. It was brought over at the behest of King Alaung Sithu in the 11th century. It was constructed of 12 different woods including the Bodhi tree, Sandalwood and Pine. The images have recently received much attention and now stand tall, slender and golden.
A steady file of worshippers walk to the glass doors and then kneel to make their oblations. Their offerings to the Buddha are long white garlands of sweet-smelling jasmine. In earthenware pots lining the steps are pale blue lotus in which tiny bees are collecting nectar.
The enormously high ceiling is dark ruby-red with sprinklings of gold stars and golden devas that resemble angels. They are worshipping the Buddha seated beneath bamboo trees rather than the usual Bodhi tree.
The four massive gateways at the cardinal points of the paya are deeply embossed with intricate designs. In some little holes, small birds have built their nests. They fly in and out singing happily.
We give to a man who is begging as he has leprosy. His arms end in stumps: no hands or fingers. We cross his path later and I am astonished to see him shake some uncooked rice from one of his stumps to the other. Surely he is not about to eat uncooked rice grains. No, he scatters the seeds for the birds.
Mothers are teaching their toddlers how to sit and pay their respects on the occasions when they come to the paya. Their feet must point away from the Buddha and they should hold their hands in an attitude of prayer. Like most toddlers he has his own ideas, which do not add to the solemnity of the occasion. He prises his mother’s hands apart and then looks up at her with a look full of love - fitting for every occasion.

Tuesday 9 June 2015

Cane Ball Festival at Maha Muni Pagoda, Mandalay.


I’ve never been much interested in sport as my children can attest, but watching men playing cane ball on the outskirts of rural villages is pleasant even for me. But I was surprised that I got excited watching the Cane Ball Festival, also known as the Wicker Ball Ceremony, at the Maha Muni Pagoda in Mandalay.
The game is not, as I originally thought, two teams playing against each other as in football. This it is more like a display featuring incredible movements, postures and acrobatics that players can achieve.
Unlike village venues, the Maha Muni Pagoda has a raised, circular covered arena and an orchestra. This heightens the excitement: the more the ball is tossed, the louder the orchestra plays.  So it’s not easy to ask Win Kyaing the finer points of the game. However, in the breathless intervals of silence when one team gives way to another, he tells me that the object of playing cane ball is to keep the ball in the air by any means other than by using hands. The players are adept at rolling the ball down their arms, back or stomach, of catching it in the nape of their neck then shaking it free and passing it on.  He tells me that most teams have six players. Why then, I wondered, had one man a large No. 7 written on the back of his shirt? “Oh that’s probably his lucky number” came the reply!
Today 30 teams will be competing between 9.00 a.m. and 12.00 p.m. and each team has thirty minutes of play. Before the Festival became so popular, it lasted just a few days, now it lasts two months.
Away to one side of the arena is a commentator competing with the orchestra for decibels. Behind a fence, the judges sit stern-faceed, eyes on the players throughout.
The pace is fast and furious with players hurling themselves toward the ball. The men look between 25 and 35 years old. A surprise is to see a player who looks 60+ with as much vim and vigour as the younger men. Oh, this is different, a young woman has just run into the arena and pinned a 5,000 Kyat note to the back of his shirt. Another girl runs on and pins a 1,000 Kyat note on another man. Finally, a man runs on and pins another 5,000 Kyat on the old guy’s shirt. He doesn’t seem to be better than any other player – maybe it’s an old age thing.

We are here during the first week of the Festival. As the weeks pass ever better teams will compete. Maybe we will be back in Mandalay near the end of the Festival and it will be interesting for me to see players at the top of their form. I wonder what notes will be pinned on them.



Monday 8 June 2015

Wei Raw Sa Na Jade Pagoda


The lady owner of the Garden Hotel in Mandalay always knows of festivals that even the Tourist Bureau doesn’t know. And so it is today that we are driving 25 kilometres from Mandalay first along the main highway and then the Sagaing-Myitngoe Road to visit the newly opened Wei Raw Sa Na Jade Pagoda. The drive itself is worth taking as it is shaded by huge trees - some in full scarlet bloom.
The jade pagoda dedicated to the Buddha fulfills the dream of a benefactor who has planned and saved for this over 25 years. Companies have helped too, for example from Europe came 300,000 Euro.  More than five tonnes of jade decorate the pagoda both inside and out.
I am quite surprised to see the pagoda is still under scaffolding. Later I learn why. I am also surprised to see that jade comes in many colours as varied as amethyst mauve and topaz yellow. Each of the four Buddha images enthroned at the cardinal points have been carved in jade of different hues. The most beautiful in my view is the almost white grey shading to green. Behind each Buddha’s head, rather resembling a halo, jade as pale as paper has been carved with words of the Buddha’s teaching.
Now I know why the scaffolding is still in place. Yesterday, some government officials and important Buddhist monks supervised the installation of the hti or umbrella that tops every Myanmar pagoda. It is many metres above the ground and the hti with its precious cargo must at first be supported. It is usual for the hti to hold costly jewels and much gold donated by those who can afford it. Here the space left for the pinnacle contains only jade and more jade.

The temperature in Mandalay is sky-high, but so are the spirits of the many worshippers who have helped make the dream of a jade pagoda come true. Whole families stop to admire the many medallions embedded in the walls each showing different events in the Buddha’s life.  They will return to this magnificent pagoda perhaps several times a year to give thanks to the Buddha for something beneficial that has happened to them and to ask for his help in the year ahead.