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No matter what time of year you come to Myanmar, there are
sure to be number of lively festivals occurring throughout
the country during your visit. The most common type are
pagoda festivals, which centre on paying respects to the
Buddha through offerings and prayer but also include
traditional singing and dancing performances, as well as
colourful markets where local goods can be bought. Also
popular are boisterous nat festivals, where believers pay
homage to animist spirits and consult spirit mediums for
advice. Ethnic New Year festivals provide visitors the
opportunity to experience Myanmar’s rich cultural diversity
at its best, with ethnic dancers and musicians performing to
crowds brimming with holiday cheer.
Festival dates change from year to year as these events are
scheduled according to the lunar calendar and usually occur
around the time of the full moon. Listed below are some of
the most famous festivals held each year.
ANANDA PAGODA FESTIVAL Bagan
(December/January )
Ananda Pagoda hosts one of the biggest and longest festivals
of the year around the full moon of the lunar month of
Pyatho. Groups of farmers from upper Myanmar travel in
bullock-cart caravans to Bagan, where they camp under the
shady trees and starry skies for the two-week duration of
the festivities. Bowls of alms filled with recently
harvested crops are offered to long lines of robed monks,
while the cool evenings feature dance, song, dramatic and
comedic performances. There is also a huge market where
vendors sell everything from handmade crafts and clothing to
food and farming tools.
NAGA NEW YEAR’S FESTIVAL Khamti,
Chin State (January )
During this festival, the Naga people of northern Myanmar
dress in colourful and exotic traditional clothing and
gather in the town of Khamti in Sagaing Division to
celebrate their New Year. During the daytime, exciting and
hard-fought sports competitions are held, while at night
traditional dances are performed to the thunderous beat of
drums. Celebrants gather around bonfires to ward off the
winter cold while they feast on roasted meat and rice wine.
MAHAMUNI PAGODA FESTIVAL, Mandalay
( January/February )
Thousands of pilgrims travel from all over the country for
the annual festival at Mahamuni Pagoda, which is one of the
most important Buddhist sites in Myanmar. Visitors can enjoy
dance and music performances, as well as plays of long or
short duration. During the day, snacks are sold at long
tables. Contests are held for the cooking of glutinous rice,
a favourite delicacy among people in Myanmar. On the full
moon day, fragrant incense is burnt as an offering to the
famous Mahamuni Buddha image.
GOLDEN HILLTOP FESTIVAL, Thanlyin
(January/February )
Kyaik Khauk Pagoda is just across the river from Yangon, but
the atmosphere at the festival is like a small-town county
fair. The pagoda is surrounded by hundreds of stalls selling
food, thanakha logs, clay pots, clothing and much more.
Revellers can spin through the air on small Ferris wheels,
or watch entertaining stage shows or movies. traditional
marionette performances are also held throughout the
festival.
INDAWGYI FESTIVAL, Hopin, near
Myitkina ( February/March )
This festival takes place at Shwe Myitsu Pagoda, which is
located on an island in the middle of picturesque Indawgyi
Lake in Kachin State. Two causeways made of sand surface
during the festival. One of them allows pilgrims to walk
from the lakeshore to the pagoda. The other, which is
incomplete, is reserved for use by spirits. The two
sandbanks disappear into the lake shortly after the
festival.
KEKKU PAGODA FESTIVAL, Taunggyi (
February/March )
Kekku is a 17th century pagoda complex consisting of more
than 2000 small shrines tucked away in the hills of Shan
State, not far from Inle Lake. During the festival, the Pa-O
people, dressed in their traditional black outfits, spend
three days praying, offering alms to monks, listening to
sermons, dancing, singing, feasting and shopping at the
festival market.
PINDAYA CAVE FESTIVAL, Pindaya (
February/March )
This festival at mysterious Shwe Oo Min Pagoda Cave in
Pindaya attracts thousands of devotees from the numerous
ethnic groups living in the area, including the Taung-yo,
Danu, Pa-O and Shan, many of them wearing colourful
traditional outfits. Vendors at the festival market sell
local foods and Shan handicrafts.
SHWEMAWDAW PAGODA FESTIVAL, Bago (
March/April )
Easily accessible from Yangon, this event at the towering
Shwemawdaw Pagoda features a festival market and evening
entertainment typical of many other pagoda festivals
throughout Myanmar. One difference is that the performances
are often attended by festival organisers from all over the
country who already starting to plan entertainment for next
season’s events. As a result, traditional theatrical troupes
perform at Shwemawdaw to the best of their abilities, to
catch the attention of these organisers.
THINGYAN WATER FESTIVAL, throughout
Myanmar ( April )
This is the most popular and widespread festival of the
year. During the four days leading up to the Buddhist New
Year, people of all ages take to the streets to soak one
another with water to wash away the misdeeds of the past
year. Stages are set up where youngsters spray water from
hoses, while others drive around in open cars dispensing
water from buckets or water guns. Due to the religious
nature of the festival, however, many people in Myanmar
forego these revels and instead retreat to monasteries and
pagodas to perform meritorious deeds. Thingyan also requires
some planning ahead, as many restaurants, shops, markets and
other businesses are closed for the duration of the
festival.
SHITTAUNG PAGODA FESTIVAL, Mrauk Oo
( April/May )
This annual event in Rakhine State is similar in many
respects to other pagoda festivals in its offering of song
and dance performances, but it also includes mock boat races
on land and real boat races in the canals of Mrauk Oo.
Another attraction is the traditional wrestling tournament,
which takes place at the foot of the pagoda. The final bouts
occur on the full moon day of Kason.
KASON WATERING TREE FESTIVAL,
throughout Myanmar ( May )
This festival, which occurs on the full moon day of the
lunar month of Kason, marks the day on which, in different
years, the Buddha was born, achieved enlightenment and died.
In commemoration of these events, water is offered to sacred
banyan trees at pagodas throughout Myanmar.
CHINLON FESTIVAL, Mandalay (
June/July )
Held in the compound of Mahamuni Pagoda in Mandalay, this
month-long festival attracts chinlon (cane ball) performers
from throughout the country. Hundreds of teams gather to
dazzle audiences with their skill in keeping the rattan ball
in the air by using any parts of the bodies except their
hands.
TAUNGBYONE NAT FESTIVAL, Taungbyone,
near Mandalay ( July/August )
This is the most famous and important nat (spirit) festival
of the year, bringing together nat kadaw (spirit mediums)
from all over Myanmar to perform dances and dispense advice
from the spirit world to believers. Shrines are erected to
the Taungbyone brothers, who in ancient times were unjustly
killed by their adoptive father, King Anawrahta, and
therefore became powerful spirits who must be appeased by
followers with offerings.
PHAUNG DAW OO PAGODA FESTIVAL, Inle
Lake ( October )
During this festival, four Buddha images from Phaung Daw Oo
Pagoda are taken by golden barge on a tour of the 20
villages around Inle Lake, spending one night in each. The
barge is pulled by a procession of dozens of boats powered
by men using the unique leg-rowing technique commonly seen
around Inle Lake. Hundreds of other boats also travel in the
entourage, adding to the festive atmosphere. Leg-rowed boat
races are also held throughout the festival.
ELEPHANT DANCE FESTIVAL, Kyaukse,
near Mandalay ( October )
Kyaukse, just south of Mandalay, is the site of the annual
elephant dance festival, in which two-person teams wearing
colourful elephant costumes made of paper and cloth on
bamboo frames perform dances to the accompaniment of
traditional music. The performers must maintain perfect
rhythm and timing to stay synchronised with one another
inside the costumes.
KYAUKTAWGYI PAGODA FESTIVAL,
Mandalay ( October )
Kyauktawgyi Pagoda is located at the foot of Mandalay Hill
and holds a famous Buddha image hewn from a single piece of
alabaster in 1864 under the guidance of King Mindon.
Traditional entertainment is offered day and night, but many
visitors are attracted by the market at which many locally
produced goods are for sale.
THADINGYUT (FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS),
throughout Myanmar ( October )
The full moon of Thadingyut marks the end of Buddhist Lent
and the
start of the pagoda festival season. Pagodas, shrines,
houses, public buildings and parks all across the country
are illuminated with candles, lamps and electric lights.
Young people pay homage to monks, teachers, parents and
elders, asking to be pardoned for any misdeeds they might
have committed. The month following the full moon of
Thadingyut is known as Kahtein, a period in which donations
are collected on wooden frames called padetha trees and then
offered to monks at monasteries
BALLOON FESTIVAL, Taunggyi (
November )
This Pa-O festival, held in Taunggyi, the capital of
southern Shan State, features the release of hot-air
balloons that compete for beauty and flying ability.
Balloons flown during the day are often shaped like animals,
while at night paper lanterns are released, ascending into
the sky in groups like glowing constellations in motion.
TAZAUGDINE LIGHT FESTIVAL,
throughout Myanmar ( November )
On the full moon day of the lunar month of Tazaungdine,
candles are lit in homes and pagodas throughout the country,
and paper lanterns are launched into the sky. Treasure hunts
are organised for children. Kyaikhtiyo Pagoda, a huge golden
rock that balances on the edge of a cliff on the peak of Mt
Kyaikto in Mon State, is particularly beautiful as 9999
candles are lit on the platform at midnight. Also on the eve
of the full moon day, many pagodas host robe-weaving
contests, in which teams of women race throughout the night
to complete saffron-coloured robes, which are offered to
Buddha images at dawn.
SHWEZIGON PAGODA FESTIVAL, Bagan (
November/December )
Evening performances are held throughout the three weeks of
this festival. Also at night candles and fireworks are
offered to the pagoda. On the full moon day of Tazaungmon,
about one week into the festival, offerings of food and
domestic supplies are made to monks from nearby monasteries,
who line up to accept the donations.
MT POPA NAT FESTIVAL, Mt Popa (
December )
Mt Popa near Bagan is considered the most important nat
(spirit) worshipping centre in Myanmar, so this joyous
festival attracts pilgrims from near and far. Particular
reverence is paid to the nat Min Mahagiri (Lord of the Great
Mountain), who before becoming a spirit had been a powerful
blacksmith who was burnt alive by a fearful and jealous
king.
KAYIN NEW YEAR, Karen State and
elsewhere ( December )
The Kayin, one of the major ethnic groups of Myanmar,
celebrate their New Year with a “new crop” ceremony
featuring traditional costumes, dances and songs, and
climaxing with a performance of the lively don folk dance.
Good places to see performances include Hpa-an in Kayin
State and Arlein Nga Sint Pagoda in Yangon.
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