Description
Golden Land-Inle Magic Mirror; 25 minutes; © 2019 The 22 km long by 10 km wide Inle lake is in the middle of a valley surrounded by two mountain ranges. On its shores, it has villages with houses on stilts inhabited by a tribe named Intha that lives mainly in the lake area. Intha fishermen steer their boats by wrapping one leg around their oar.
Ywama floating market is part of the market circuit for which the Shan States are renowned, a five-day-three-tier rotation of markets that encompass most of the tribe commerce. The market is smaller than better-known markets of Vietnam or Thailand but it has its own charm especially because you come visiting by small boat.
Phaung Daw Paya is the most important pagoda in the entire Inle Lake region. It is home to five small blobs of gold that were originally five Buddha figures. The men coming in a pilgrimage in their devotion stack gold leaf on the figures whose features are not recognizable anymore. The original five Buddha images represent Kakkusandra, Kauna-Gamana, Kasatpa, Gautama, and Arain-Mareya that are all different manifestation of Lord Buddha. In the temple, there is an old photograph of the five original Buddha images. The figures may be seen dressed in a small robe named thingan that the pilgrims bring to the figures and after that bring it back home and leave it in their home altar.
The tradition says that the Buddha images were brought sometime in the 12th century by King Alaungsithu of Bagan during one of his journeys on the lake using a barge that, the legend said, was built of a wood that contained a philosopher’s stone. This stone gave the Royal Barge the supernatural power of turning into the water just by the motion of the king’s finger. During the journey, the king stopped at this place on the lake so the place was marked as sacred and Phaung Daw U Pagoda was built on its place.
The Phaung Daw U Pagoda Festival is one of the most famous festivals in Myanmar attended by many locals from the entire Shan State. It takes about 18 days during the Month of Thad-in-Gyut by the lunar calendar, usually between September and October.
Follow us on Instagram
