On arriving in Yangon, Myanmar, we met our guide Thiha, who will be traveling with us until we embark on our riverboat in Mandalay. Yangon, the former capital, is the largest city in Myanmar with a population of about six million. The city was leveled by a fire in 1841. A few years later, after the end of the second (1852) of the three British-Burmese wars, the British redesigned and rebuilt the center of town on a grid. This new colonial Yangon included parks and lakes, along with both traditional wooden buildings and contemporary buildings of brick and mortar. It was named the “garden city of the East.” In addition to being beautiful, it was the commercial and political hub of Burma. By the 20th century, Yangon had services and an infrastructure equivalent to London. It was so advanced that prior to the revolution in 1962, Singapore sent city and service planners to study Yangon as the model of what could be applied in Singapore.
Following the revolution in 1962, which brought the military into power, the city’s buildings and infrastructure began to suffer at the hands of poor maintenance, lack of investment, and a rapidly increasing population. To accommodate all the new people, the city began to sprawl by adding satellite cities on the edges of the old city. Despite recent initiatives to invest and rebuild the center of town, the rate of decline hasn’t reached an inflection point yet when you include the satellites. In order to make room for renovation, many residents have been relocated to satellite cities. The hotel we are staying at, the Shangri-La, was the first high-rise building in Yangon, built-in 1986. Dating back to the colonial period, building height was limited to three floors. Visible construction of new, multi-story buildings is on its way, but it has a long way to go. Several buildings stand empty waiting for renovation after tenants were relocated. Basic municipal services such as 24-hour electrical power, clean water supply, and garbage collection remains unavailable.
Yangon has also been the epi-center of anti-government demonstrations and protests. The most infamous protest was in 1988, when the government shot more than a hundred thousand unarmed protesting students and family members. The dead and wounded were loaded onto trucks and hauled just outside the city, where they were incinerated, in an attempt to hide evidence from the rest of the world. All this was repeated in the 2007 Saffron Revolution, led by monks this time. As in the 1988 uprising, the government shot into unarmed crowds of monks (who believed that no one would ever shoot a monk), students, and journalists. Again they disposed of any evidence.
The most recent calamity to strike the town was in 2008, when the cyclone Nargis hit the city. Fortunately, few lives were lost, but three-quarters of its industrial infrastructure was destroyed or damaged to the tune of almost one billion dollars. You may recall that at the time, the world community assembled a massive aid effort and was poised to deliver it, just waiting for approval to bring it in. The military government refused, fearful of foreigners.
When we reached our hotel, we joined up with another seven people for the rest of the trip through Myanmar – Jean and Tom, Lynne and Ed, Carleen and Chuck, John and Laura, and Susan. After checking in, we immediately made our way to the oldest, tallest, and most important pagoda in Myanmar – the Shwedagon Pagoda, which is always in the signature photograph when referring to Myanmar. This evening afforded the only opportunity to visit the pagoda and to participate in the candle lighting ceremony, since the army requisitioned the facility for its own purposes the next day.
Our group photo in front of the Shwedagon Pagoda dome.
Shwedagon Pagoda grounds
One of the courtyards in the Shwedagon Pagoda
Dome of pagoda
The Shwedagon Dome at night
Beautifully lit grounds.
The huge golden dome, with its gold gilded spires and more than 7,000 diamonds, rubies and sapphires, is stunning and can be seen from almost everywhere in the city. It is filled with faithful and tourists. It’s all somewhat overwhelming. As is the custom at any pagoda, we removed our shoes and followed Thiha to see the key highlights. Many followers, including monks, would just kneel down in any open spot to pray and to show respect, managing not to be distracted by crowds of tourists elbowing each other to take that just-right photograph.
The second largest cast bell min Myanmar, pulled out of the water after its weight caused the boat to sink.
Followers pressing gold foil squares on to a statue of Buddha.
The lighting ceremony was to include the lighting of more than fifteen hundred oil candles while monks chanted ancient Pali scriptures. Somehow we missed the monks, so we treated the lighting as more of an individual moment rather than a group ceremony. The oil lamps on the railing surrounding the pagoda held a small amount of oil with three or four wicks forming a pyramid in the center. Thiha gave us each a stick with a candle taped to the end, allowing us to reach into the pyramid wick – much like lighting a bonfire. We made an offering of a prayer and dedicated the flame to someone or some event in our lives – much like lighting a candle in a Catholic church. At the same time, others stood in front of small alcoves containing a statue of a nat, and doused it with a ladle of water to symbolically cleanse themselves of evil or bad luck.
Lamp lighting ceremony
Oil Lamps
Nats are spirits, predating Buddhism and most likely a derivation from animism, which are frequently worshipped in conjunction with Buddhism. Nats have a human form. As I understand it, the 37 Great Nats, were designated by King Anawrahta of Bagan in the eleventh century. Every Burmese village has a nat shrine that serves as the guardian of the city. Many Burmese would say it is just superstition. I recall Audi, our guide in Bangkok, admitted that she brought a gift of food to a specific nat to help her pass an important exam. She passed. I guess it works. In contrast, Thiha our guide on this leg of our trip and a follower of the more pure, Theravada branch of Buddhism, dismisses nats as astrology and meaningless. It seems that human nature has a hard time adhering to a way of life based on a philosophy, which excludes the worshiping and asking for answers from someone or something, and instead accepting that all answers and responsibilities are, in fact, within each of us – Buddhism. Nats serve the need to worship some object.
The Tuesday nat, with worshipers washing away bad luck and sins with a ladle of water.
Meeting a special monk at his place of prayer.
As I walked through the large complex with all its statues, relics, gold, jewels, multi-colored lights, and tour groups swarming everywhere, it was very difficult to get myself mentally and emotionally to a contemplative, serene place. All this bling is a very distracting, opposing force to Buddhism – but it seems to work for followers! Overwhelmed by all this commercialism, I went to being an observer and judge of all this theatre. With all of this distraction, I realized our group had started to file out. As I hurried to catch up, I walked by a dimly lit, canopied stage off to the side, when I spotted an old, frail, monk meditating and praying. As I stopped to capture the moment, he slowly got up, walked over to face me. He smiled, allowed me to take his photo, then bowed with his hands joined at his heart. It was a moment of spiritual communication. It was a very special moment for me, and has stayed with me. Alright already, I give up, I acknowledge that despite all the flash, this pagoda is special and powerful.
Oldest pagoda in the city, located at the center.
The rebuilt city hall in center of town.
Royal Lake near the center of town.
The next morning, we went on a dreaded bus ride through the center of town, jumping off and on to take in notable sites. Given the heavy traffic we’ve now accepted as being universal in this part of the world, it was the best alternative. We drove by the oldest pagoda in the center of town, and then stopped by city hall and Freedom Park. The old city hall was torn down and rebuilt. The plaza immediately in front of city hall is the place where, in 1988, the army opened fire on demonstrating students, killing thousands. In commemoration, they built a park with an obelisk dedicated those that lost their lives in the pursuit of freedom.
Thiha proudly wearing his student jacket.
St. Mary Catholic church.
Next we visited St. Mary’s Catholic Church – the largest Catholic church in the country. On the way we passed the building where An Sang and his ministers were assassinated. As with many other buildings, it is ‘closed for renovation’ and is targeted to be the home of the city’s main museum. As we moved beyond the new city hall, most buildings are only three stories high and in dire need of repair and a power washing. Some buildings, the confiscated homes of Indians, are now empty and gutted, scheduled to be renovated or rebuilt as hotels. Thiha described the rooms in the three-story buildings as holding multiple families, having very limited power, and lacking any opening or ventilation except the window in front. Residents tend to their house work in the mornings when it is cooler, and then live outside for the rest of the day.
Downtown buildings in need of a power washing.
Nearby is the Royal Lake, which is the largest lake in the area and is surrounded by public parks and facilities. A Royal Barge, used during various festivals, is anchored at one end – sporting lots of gold, of course. The Shwedagon pagoda shows nicely as the back drop for the lake.
Massive (230 foot) Resting Buddha.
Resting Buddha.
Following lunch, we visited the Kyaukhtatgyi Pagoda with its 230-foot Resting Buddha. It was built-in 1907 by a donation from a very rich merchant, Sir Po Tha, who may have acquired his wealth as a drug lord, and was trying make amends to reincarnate into a nice, new life. The story (according to Thiha) is that two teams of Japanese artists were brought in to build the monument. One team created the top of the body, while the second created the bottom half. They did not get along. They hated each other and had many conflicts. When it was finished, the face and top looked very masculine, its positional angle made it inconsistent with the bottom of the torso. So in the 1970’s, the Buddha was treated to some body work, under the direction of the army. The result is that the Buddha’s body parts now match up, but the face was changed to be very feminine, including what looks like lipstick – basically gaudy. Go Army, the ultimate curator of art!
We ended the day by visiting the National Museum, which is home to ancient artifacts. Sue insisted that we visit at least one museum in the city.
Back in the bus to return to our hotel, Thiha gave us his personal story to reveal more about life in Myanmar. The most significant event in his life is referred to as the “8888” revolution – that is August 8, 1988. He was a young student at that time, participating in the demonstration against the government, standing on the front line with the barbed wire barricade in front, facing City Hall. After several warnings to disperse, the soldiers – their own countrymen – opened fire into the crowd. The men next to him were struck by bullets. He fell down and feigned death. After the firing stopped, with the air-filled with screams of pain and anguish, the soldiers broke through the barrier. Trucks pulled up, and soldiers began hauling out the dead and wounded comrades to load them onto the beds of military trucks. He never saw his friends again. Over the next six days, Thiha claims that more than 129,000 people throughout the country were killed by the military. Their bodies were cremated just outside Yangon, to hide evidence of the atrocities. He and other surviving students took refuge at the University. After several days of standoff, the military moved in and he escaped into the countryside. He proudly wears his gold jacket as recognition that he was part of that movement. A sobering end to a long day, and an auspicious sign for the US election ahead.
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