Tooth Relic Festival at Paung-de near Pyay, Full moon day of Tawthalin

Next day we leave earlier on the one-hour drive from Pyay to Paung-de and fortunately we are able to park closer to the Buddha Tooth Relic Pagoda than yesterday. Once inside we find a stunning display of the Relic. It is floodlit and around the base is a mass of flowers.

We learn that the Relic arrived relatively recently in Myanmar (Burma) on 8 September 1897. The then Sayadaw (Abbot) of the Paya (Pagoda) U Wimala, asked U Pho Mya and his wife Daw Nu and some other chosen people to journey to Sri Lanka, then called in Burmese Thi Ho, where the original and true Tooth Relic had been preserved by more than 100 kings down through the ages in that country. Once there and having paid their respects, the group supervised the making of a copy of the Tooth using the inner part of an elephant’s left tusk. This ivory replica was then placed beside the original Tooth and left for 15 days. After this, the Tooth Relic was transported to Myanmar, doubtless with much ceremony. Now, every year, there is the Tooth Relic Procession in the Buddha Tooth Relic Pagoda in Paung-de. The Relic is shown around the town carried on an elephant and escorted by suitably attired soldiers of older times.

The festival is on the Full Moon Day of Tawthalin. This year it falls on 28 September with two days prior festival days. An hour’s drive away, not far from Pyay and the Ayeyawady River, is Golden Guest Hotel, which is reasonably priced and has attentive and helpful staff.