 |
| |
Festivals are drawn-out, enjoyable
affairs and generally take place or culminate
on full-moon days. There's often a country fair
atmosphere about these celebrations, and they
may feature stalls, pwes, music and boxing bouts.
January
Independence Day on 4th Januaryis marked by
a seven-day fair in Yangon.
April
Thingyan Water Festival - Celebrating the Myanmar
New Year, this festival lasts for several days
and is marked by major, good-natured water throwing.
It is also a time of merit making, and older people
go to temples for prayer and alms giving.
May
The Kason Festival - Representing the day the
Buddha was born, the day He attained Enlightenment,
and the day of His passing, this festival falls
on the day of the full moon of Kason in the Myanmar
calendar, in early May. Visits are made to pagodas
to water the sacred Bo Trees - under which species
the Buddha is said to have attained Enlightenment.
July
The Waso Festival - Commemorating the Buddha's
first sermon, this festival also marks the beginning
of Buddhist Lent. Monks are given new robes and
other requirements to tide them through the months
ahead.
October
Thadingyut Festival (Festival of Lights) - Marking
the end of Buddhist Lent, this festival, held
on the full moon day of Thadingyut, lasts for
three days during which houses and streets are
festively decorated and illuminated. People crowd
into their local pagodas to offer alms and make
merit. Younger people also pay homage to their
parents, elders and teachers.
Phaungdaw Oo Pagoda Festival, Inle Lake - Phaungdaw
Oo Pagoda's Buddha images are ferried from village
to villages for people to pay homage. Fairs, dances,
the leg rowers' boat races and general festivities
counterbalance the more austere ceremonial aspect.
This is the biggest celebration in the Shan state.
Elephant Dance Festival - Though enacted in several
towns and villages, the town with the best festival
is Kyauk-se, 40km south of Mandalay. Two full
size paper elephants, one black, one white, each
with two men inside, dance through the town with
much pageantry and ceremony.
November
Tazaungdaing Festival - Held on the full moon
day of Tazaungmon according to the Myanmar Calendar,
this festival finds houses and public buildings
decorated and brightly lit. Robes and other requisites
are offered to monks with the special offering
of Mathothigan - a robe that is woven in one single
day - held on the eve of the full moon. Dedicated
teams of weavers compete with one another to complete
the robes, which are then reverently offered to
images of Buddha |
|
