Tag Archives: worship 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 […]  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, […]  It’s a funny day today: the blustery winds keep changing directions as I watch the swans and pelicans on the estuary across the road from where I live. I guess the unsettled weather is fitting for this, the last day of the cycle in the ancient Mayan calendar. For a price, you can escape or […]  “Then, a golden mystery upheaved itself on the horizon, a beautiful winking wonder that blazed in the sun, of a shape that was neither Muslim dome nor Hindu temple-spire. It stood upon a green knoll, and below it were lines of warehouses, sheds, and mills. Under what new god, thought I, are we irrepressible English […] |
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