Ananda Pagoda Festival, Myanmar
31 images Created 1 Apr 2017
There are many festivals in Myanmar, but the Ananda Pagoda festival in Bagan is feast for the eyes. People come from all around Bagan in cars, motorbikes, and horse and wagons. Concerts, parties and festivities lead up to the main event that takes place in the early morning of the last day. Families bring offerings to the hundreds of monks that are here. All the offerings contain some money and then various other items, usually food or everyday items. These offerings all get put onto massive tables set up in the main courtyard of the temple. The monks line up early in the morning outside the entrance. While waiting outside they get to socialize and are given a ticket to receive one of the offerings. There are a few vendors roaming around but the ice cream guys are the biggest hit. The monks go in one by one handing in their tickets and getting a bag of items and one of the offerings. It is all luck of the draw which one you get, but I think if you are thinking like a Buddhist the one you get is the one you are suppose to have. ☺ There are a handful of nuns that are at the back of the line. Nuns in Buddhism are treated like second class and this was displayed for me as after they have waited here for most of the morning, one of the main monks goes up to them and informs them that there is not enough for them and that they should leave the line. It is an unfortunate story for these women who have dedicated their lives for their beliefs.