Tag Archives: buddhism There are ups and downs when traveling with a photo group. One of the most important advantages is time: a group of people aiming to make pictures will often stay in one place long enough to experiment with light and angles and to focus on details, long enough to make the average non-photographer fidget with […]  Away from the gilded and jewel-bedecked temples filled with monks in maroon robes and nuns in pale pink, Myanmar hides a quiet, almost idyllic, rural landscape dotted with ancient ruins. Just 21 km south of Mandalay, nestled in the confluence of the Myitnge and Irrawaddy (Ayeyarwaddy) rivers, across from the busy monasteries and shiny temples […]  Buddhist temples in Myanmar are clearly loved and well cared for. Offerings of gold, flowers, and incense are everywhere, and the walls and floors are so shiny you can see yourself reflected in them: often the product of donated labour. Mahamuni Temple, Mandalay, and Soon U Ponya Shin Pagoda, in the nearby Sagaing Hills, which I visited one day […]  It is a different world… Temples and monasteries are an integral part of life in Myanmar. They accommodate about half a million males, who are either vocational monks or novices, and around 50,000 nuns. That is: roughly one percent of the population actually lives in one of the many monasteries or nunneries, completely dependent on the laity for all their […]  Temples in Southeast Asia are living places. This is certainly true in Myanmar. The many Buddhist temples I visited there were architecturally beautiful – and different, with no two exactly the same. But what I generally find more interesting is the life – both sacred and secular – within and around them. On my first afternoon in Mandalay, […] |
|
