Objective Burma!

Contributed by Raman Kolluri

I had an exceptionally enjoyable visit to Myanmar in September.  In 1989, the country known as Burma renamed itself Myanmar.  According an excellent article in the Atlantic Magazine, forms of the words Burma and Myanmar have existed in that country for centuries.

At the height of the WWII, Axis forces came knocking on the doors of India, and moved as far as Burma.  Objective Burma was a popular movie with Errol Flynn that captured some of that action.

I hope you enjoy this photo essay of my trip and a more detailed travelogue at the end.

I. Temple vs Pagoda

Temple has a statue of the Buddha and is open, and Pagoda has a relic of the Buddha and is closed

Shwe Dagon Pagoda

Chauk Htet Gyi Temple 

II.  Pagodas in Bagan

Pagodas far as the eye can see

III.  Monastery Row

Often connected to Palaces and Temples

Kuthodaw 

                  Shwe Nan Daw 

IV.  Mandalay

Sights, sounds and experiences

U Bein's Bridge    

Inya Lake

Hey there ... !

Visit to an orphanage

V.  Group

A friendly and inquiring minded group that I toured with

My travelogue:  

Buddham Saranam Gachami (In the footsteps of the Buddha)

Myanmar is an ancient country whose origin goes back to the 9th century AD. Two leaders Mon and the Pyu who migrated from India through Tibet had founded the kingdom in 949 AD and made Bagan their capital. At its height, the empire included some parts of Thailand (Ayutthaya) and India (Manipur). After nearly nine hundred years of Burmese rule, Britain conquered Burma in 1824. During the Second World War, Burmese cooperated with Japan hoping to gain independence. But the Japanese deceived them and they finally got independence in 1948. The union of the country consists of many tribes, Shan, Kachin, Red Karen, Karen, Chin, Mon and Rakhine along with a majority of Bamar (Burmese) people. But the independence only lasted for a short period of time. In 1962, General Ne Win led a coup d'état and the military government took over and ruled the country until 2015. The country is now a freely elected democracy lead by Aung San Suu Kyi.

The Country is now called Myanmar as opposed to Burma, the name given to it by the British. The capital of the country is Yangon (Rangoon), with Mandalay being the second largest city. The countries population is 85% Buddhists and deeply religious. The country is full of Pagodas and temples for Buddha.

The country was not friendly to tourism, during the military regime and is open to tourism after it became democratic. I took the opportunity to visit the country for two weeks during September, 2016, along with a group of friends, sponsored by the Overseas Adventure Travel.

Yangon

Our first stop was Yangon. The city has a population of nearly five million and majority are poor. The city has however, a large number of cars owned by the few rich people. All the people we met were extremely friendly and full of enthusiasm that their country will prosper in future. The two main attractions we saw on the first day were Chauk Htet Gyi Temple and Shwe Dagon Pagoda. There is a distinction between a Pagoda and a temple. A Pagoda is a closed structure in which, most often a sacred relic of Buddha is placed. A temple on the other hand, is an open structure often containing one or more Buddha statues. The Chauk Htet Gyi Temple has a huge reclining Buddha. Its length is nearly 65 meters! It was originally built in 1907 but was in a neglected state until it was restored in 1966. It is interesting that this Buddha wears a golden robe and is decorated with very expressive colors. It has a white face, red lips, blue eye shadow and red finger nails, almost as if it is the statue of a female! The explanation that was given is that, Buddha has to be perfect and men cannot be perfect!

       

The Shwe Dagon Pagoda is the largest and most sacred Pagoda in Myanmar. According to the legend, two merchant brothers met the Lord Gautama Buddha and received eight of his hairs. The brothers, with the help of King Okkalapa, enshrined them in a pagoda on Singuttara Hill. While it is not clear, when the original Pagoda was built, it was King Binnya U who has rebuilt it to a height of 18 m around 1350 AD. Later, during 1460AD, Queen Binnya Thau raised its height to 40 m. In 1768, an earthquake brought down the top of the stupa. King Hsinbyushin got it raised it to its current height of 99 meters. From 1988 to 2012, the military rulers banned all worship at this shrine. The stupa is built with bricks and is completely covered by real gold and the shining stupa in morning Sunlight is magnificent to look at. The stupa is enormous in size and consists of a huge number of smaller shrines, also covered in gold. This place reminds one of the Jade Buddha temple in Bang Kok. But it is much bigger in size and richer in decoration. One can say that this is the biggest and most beautiful Buddhist monument in the world.

Our next visit was to Lake Inya. The lake not only is beautiful but also of great historical significance. In 1988, students from all over Myanmar gathered here, to protest against the military government. The government ordered shooting of the protesters and hundreds of students died on that day. Now, the lake is considered as a sacred place for the martyrs of that uprising. There is also an interesting side to this lake. In Myanmar, young lovers are not allowed to kiss each other publicly, until they are engaged. However, young people come to this park and kiss anyway, but behind an umbrella, so that no one can recognize them! 

In the afternoon, we had lunch at an interesting place. This was a house which was owned by an Indian named Nath and was the headquarters of the rebellious movement against the British by Aung San, who is the father of the present leader Aung San Suu Kyi. There were several memorabilia in that place.

Downtown area of Yangon is a bustling area with several markets.  There is an Indian section also. These Indians were brought to Myanmar by the British during the early nineteenth century.

       

Bagan is the most magnificent place I have ever visited in all my travels around the world. It is mind boggling to see the hundreds of pagodas, big and small, spread as far as eye can see. Bagan was the capital of King Anawratha, during the ninth century AD. He converted his people to Theravada Buddhism by banishing from the country, who whoever had not followed that religion. Of the original 13,000 temples, pagodas and stupas, only 2,200 remain today. The 2016 earth quake had destroyed some fully and others partially. Still, the panorama of the land filled with these magnificent buildings is breath taking. Particularly the scenery from either a balloon or from the top of the Shwe Sandawe Pagoda, is unparalleld. Since in September (which is the end of rainy season) no balloons are operated, we did the next best thing of climbing the Pagoda (believe it or not, I have climbed the 54 steps to get to the first level of the Pagoda!). The scene from there, is out of the world! Which ever direction one looks, there are pagodas big and small as far as the eye can see! These Pagodas are spread in a vast space and no proper roads exist to reach them. One has to travel on horse carts to reach the most important of them. We did the same and I can never forget the experience. I did not feel this much of awe, even when I visited Angkor Watt in Cambodia, which itself is a fantastic monument. During eleventh and twelfth centuries, practically everyone in Bagan built a pagoda, the size and complexity depending on the wealth and status of the individual. These were not built in any specific order or style. They are spread all over the place without any plan or symmetry. We walked among dozens of pagodas many of them ravaged by the earth quake. We were wonder stuck by the dedication and hard work put up by the people who built all those pagodas. It is interesting to note that there is no civilization in this area except for a small village far away called New Bagan.

                

There are dozens of important Pagodas and temples in Bagan. It was not possible to cover all of them in our short three day visit there. I have reported here, some of the important ones we have visited.

One of the first temples we visited was the Ananda Pahto temple with the four magnificient golden Buddha statues facing the four sides of the square shaped structure. This Mon style temple is built by King Kyanzittha around 1105. It is one of the largest, best preserved and most revered temple in Bagan. In 1975, a massive earthquake caused considerable damage to this temple. But now, it is fully restored. The four statues inside are gaigantic in size. There is an interesting story about these statues. These four statues were designed  based on the style of the Indian Buddha statues. During the twelth century, two of them were stolen by robbers with the hope that they may contain treasure inside them. They were later replaced by statues made by local artists. Our tour leader asked us to guess which of the two statues were original. I was able to recognize the original statues! This is because, the statues based on Indian style will have 'Ardha Nemeelita Netras' ( half closed eyes ) depicting that the Buddha is both meditating as well as watching the outer world. The imitation statues had fully opened eyes! These statues are also covered by gold leaf. Burmese have a tradition ( which continues even today) to afix gold leaves to the Buddhist statues, with the belief that it brings luck for them. It is estimated that there is several tons of gold on the different Buddha statues in the country. There are also a number of paintings  and countless Buddha statues inside the temple.

                                                 

Another temple we saw this morning was the Gawdawpalin Temple. It was started by King Narapatisithu and completed by his son Htilominlo. It is one of the large shrines of Bagan. It is a double-storied temple, unlike the Ananda temple. There are porticos on all the four sides but only the one on the eastern side is projecting out. There is a legend regarding the construction of this temple. King Narapatisithu became very proud of himself and proclaimed that he is more powerful and accomplished than his ancestors. He became blind just after that. He had started building this temple to make amends to his arrogance. 

In the afternoon, we took a boat ride in the Irrawaddy River, which is lined with several pagodas along the shore. We could see the life of the local people along the banks of the river. As the sunset was nearing, the golden tops of some of the pagodas were shining brilliantly, making one wonder how a country, with so much of gold, remains poor?  

The Dhammayangyi temple in Bagan is the largest temple in Bagan. King Narathu became the king of Bagan by killing his father. He built this temple to atone his deed. He could not complete the building as he was assassinated in the temple itself by a Hindu king Pateikkaya. Most of the temple is blocked by brick walls. The only shrine on the western side has two original images of Gautama and Maitreya. 

The Gu Byauk Gyi temple was built in 1113 by Raj Kumar in Indian temple style. The temple consists of a large shrine room attached to a smaller antechamber. The temple is built in the Mon style. The interior is dimly lit by small perforations rather than open windows. This temple is famous for the fine paintings inside, which resemble the paintings in the Ajanta caves of India. Unfortunately, they are not allowed to be photographed. The fine stuccowork on its outside walls is also very impressive. 

The Thetbyinnyu temple is a huge white structure. It is named after 'Thatbyinnyutanyan' which is another name for Buddha in Burmese language. It was built in tenth century by King Alaungsithu. It combines the temple styles of the Ananda and Gawdawpalin. The total height of the stupa is 125 meters. The great height of the stupa and the vertical artistic lines on it gives it a magnificent appearance. There is an interesting story about a small temple next to this huge temple. The king wanted to know the exact number of bricks used for the big temple. So he ordered the building of a small temple with one brick for each thousand bricks used for the big temple! 

Mandalay

After three wonderful days in Bagan, we flew to Mandalay. Our first visit in Mandalay was to the Myawaddy Nunnery. This is a place where the nuns are dedicated to the study of Buddha's teachings. The discipline and the dedication of these nuns to their religion is very inspiring. I saw on the terrace of this nunnery, the four lions and the Ashok Chakra, which is the official symbol of India.   

Before we went into the city, we passed through a local market, where we observed some thing interesting. Practically all women wear some kind of paste on their face. We were told that this is called 'Tanaka', a yellowish-white cosmetic paste made from the bark of a tree of the same name. Its active ingredients are coumarin and marmesin. It is a distinctive feature of the culture of Myanmar and practically,women of all ages wear this. They believe that it helps in removing acne and promote smooth skin and it is anti-fungal. When we arrived at the Sadona hotel, I had a surprise. My room had a grand view of the Royal palace with the beautiful towers and the mote surrounding the 9 square kilmeter compound.

The Mandalay Palace is built in 1859 in Mandalay by King Mindon who was the last king of Myanmar. Unfortunately. He did not have a lot of time to enjoy the palace. He was arrested by the British when he was hardly 22 years of age and imprisoned in India. He died there as a prisoner. Most of the palace was destroyed during the Second World War and the reconstructed replica of the original palace is now a tourist attraction.

One of the grand attractions of Manadalay is the Mahamuni temple. It is most revered by the local people and is a major pilgrimage site for Buddhists. According to legend, only five likenesses of the Buddha were made during his lifetime. Two of them were in India, two in paradise, and the fifth is the Mahamuni Buddha at Manadalay. The  Buddha's statue is housed in a small chamber, seated on a throne in a divine posture. The image is crowned and adorns jewels  with diamonds, rubies and sapphires. Gold leaves are regularly applied to the statue by by male devotees ( females are not allowed to go near the statue). Because of this, the coating of gold is now considered to be 15 centimeters thick and it is estimated that there is a ton of gold on this statue! There are a number of miracles associated with this statue. 

Shwe Nan Daw Monasrty is an awe inspiring wooden struture. It was originally part of the Royal Palace in Amarapura. When the capital city was moved to Mandalay, the building was dismantled and transported to Mandalay and rebuild there in 1857. The intricate wooden carvings throughout this temple reminds one of the temples in Khatmandu in Nepal. The monastery is also called the Golden Palace Monastery, because it used to be part of the Mandalay Royal Palace. It was once covered with gold but, time and weather eroded all of it. Due to lack of maintenance, the beautiful carvings are slowly but surely being destroyed.

     

Kuthodaw Pagoda is an intriguing Pagoda. It consists of a series of small pagodas, each containing a tablet on which Buddha's teachings are inscribed. This is considered as the world's largest book! It has 730 tablets on which 1460 pages are inscribed. Each tablet has its own mini pagoda and a precious gem on top. These small pagodas are arranged around a central golden pagoda.

The Buddha temple on the top of Mandalay hill has to be climbed either by the 128 steps on the top of the hill or by an elevator. The road to the hill itself has to be travelled by small truck like vans (with no cushioned seats!). But the view of Mandalay from the top is breathtaking and well worth the trouble. There is a Buddha temple on the top of the hill with beautifully decorated walls made out of gold foil. Locals believe that this is the place where Buddha made a prophesy. 

The visit to the orphanage run by Grand Circle Foundation was one of the highlights of our trip to Mandalay. The orphanage admits children who are abandoned or abused and provide them with lodging, food and clothing. They are educated till they are ready to earn to sustain themselves. The children here were adorable. They were so happy there, that they did not have a care in the world! They sang and danced for us and would not let us go! GCT must be commended for this great project.

Our last visit in Mandalay was to the U bein's Bridge. It is a wooden bridge across the Taungthaman Lake to Amarapura near Mandalay. It is 1.2 kilometers long and is considered as the oldest and longest wooden bridge in the world. There is an interesting story about the bridge. It was built in 1850 by Mr. U Bein with the blessings of the king. However, he started collecting exorbitant tax from the locals to cross the bridge. Upon complaint to the King, he was found guilty and was hanged on the same bridge! 

We flew to Helo as our last stop to visit Kalaw and the Inle Lake before returning to Yangon.

Kalaw is a very small town and the only real attraction was the Myin Ma Hti Caves full of Buddhas. The caves are about 600 meters long and lined by stalactites and natural formations. There are hundreds of Buddha statues of various sizes inside the caves. Local legend is that the original pagoda was one of the 84,000 pagodas built by Indian King Asoka 2,300 years ago. However, there is no archeological evidence for the same. For many years, the cave was in bad shape and visitors could not enter the same. It was repaired by the Burmese kings Anawrahta and Alaungsithu so that visitors can go into them. There is a place for peaceful meditation deep inside the caves.

       

One of the most interesting experiences in our trip happened here. Our tour leader made a challenge to us to go and buy produce from the local market, for a lunch to be prepared by us! We had to find the right ingredients using only Burmese language! With great difficulty, our group bought the items and we all went to a village of the Danu Hill Tribes. They were most hospitable and allowed us to use their utensils to cook. The villagers joined us for a community lunch, which we have cooked (mostly by the women members of our group)! At the end of the lunch they had answered several questions from us. One of the most interesting answers was that they never had any crime or police in their community! At the end of lunch, in an impromptu gesture, they began dancing and singing in our honor. It was a most memorable afternoon (particularly with Rum Punch inside us!)               

            

We had visited a wooden umbrella making shop and an interesting tea stop on the way to the Inle Lake.

     

Next to Bagan, this is the best place we had visited in Myanmar. The Lotus Spa Resort where we stayed was quite unique. It is built on the edge of the lake and all the units are made and furnished in the shape of a boat! On the 'deck' of the 'boat', one can sit and enjoy the beauty of the lake!

   

Among the many beautiful lakes I have seen all over the world, this lake ranks one of the best. It is a huge lake, nearly thirteen kilometers long and eight kilometers wide at the widest point. It is pristine and undisturbed by the modern civilization. The fishermen still fish in this lake in their old ways of rowing with their legs and catching the fish by 'scaring' them by beating the reef in which they hide and trapping them in the net! 

Floating gardens in the Inle Lake are a unique phenomenon. These are vegetable gardens grown on soil which is floating on the water! The local farmers spike a long pole in the floating soil so that it does not drift away. Tomatoes, Cucumbers and many other vegetables are grown in this unique garden.  One can see lot of boat venders following the tourist boats to sell the souvenirs. This reminds one of the floating market in Bang Kok, Thailand. 

The Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda is a unique pagoda in Myanmar and is an important religious site in the Shan State of Myanmar. In the center of the Pagoda, there are five small golden Buddha statues. These Buddha statues are covered with so many gold leaves over the years that that it is impossible to see the original statues. They appear as two lumps of gold one on the top of the other for each of the statues. During an important Phaung Daw Oo festival in October, four of those statues are ferried on a replica of a royal barge throughout Inle Lake. There is also a legend associated with these statues. In 1960, the barge carrying the images capsized, and the images fell into the lake. It was said that, they could not recover one statue. But when they went back to the monastery, the missing statue was miraculously sitting in its place!

The Inn Dein Pagoda ruins date back to eighteenth century. The pagodas were commissioned during the reign of King Narapatisithu. However, there is a belief that they were built by Indian King Ashoka during 2nd century BC and renewed by King Anawrahta. There is no archeological evidence for the same. These hundreds of Pagodas are crowded into a small place and most of them are in a ruinous state while a few of them being restored.

The last and most interesting monastery we had visited was the so called 'Jumping Cat Monastery'! This monastery, on the edge of the lake was not visited by many devotees. To make it more attractive to the devotees, one of the monks trained the cats in the monastery to jump at his command. This caught the attention of the locals and hundreds of the devotees started visiting the monastery to see the jumping cats. This went on until the head of the monastery found that people are more interested in the cats rather than the monastery and ordered the cat act to stop. One can see these cats still on the premises but they do not jump anymore. 

The long neck Paduang women at Ywama village of the Inle Lake are unique! These women with a very long neck, are covered by many bronze bands as if to lengthen their neck! They said that they do this to make themselves uglier than others to avoid being the victims of human trafficking. They increase the number of the bands with age. By the time they reach twenty years, they may wear as many as 35 rings! While it is possible to take off these rings for any emergency, they claim that they never take them off. For most of the visitors to the lake, a visit to these ladies is a must and we were no exception!  

On the last day of our stay on the Inle Lake, our group leader arranged a wonderful dance program to honor the guests. Most of the tribal dances of the area were presented on this occasion. After this wonderful trip, we returned to Yangon. On my way back, I had a day to visit Seoul, the capital of South Korea, before flying home.   

It was an extraordinary, educational and most enjoyable trip I had taken in a long time. I am very happy that I was healthy and active all through the trip and was even able to climb the Shwe Sandawe Pagoda to see the panorama of the Bagan pagodas.  

                                            

Raman Kolluri

October 2016