Festivals

This festival marks the date of Buddha’s first sermon as well as the beginning of the monsoon season in Myanmar and Buddhist lent. As the monks do not return home from their monasteries throughout lent but are required to make their usual rounds, a ceremony is held to present the monks with flowers and spare robes for the wet season.

Chin-Lone or ‘cane ball’ teams from all over Myanmar gather at the Maha Muni Pagoda in Mandalay to pay homage to the Mahamuni Buddha image by playing a continuous Chin-lone tournament every day and night for over a month. Different styles of the game are played and the crowd is entertained with traditional music and dancing.

The pagodas of Pakokku on the west bank of the Ayeyarwady River are home to this annual two-week traditional country fair. While traditional plays and dances are performed, local crafts, chillies, tobacco and fabrics are sold and women from all over the country stock up on organic cosmetics made from the tree bark found in the area.