Mandalay, Myanmar

part X

As I have mentioned before, I arrived in Myanmar for the Buddhist New Year, I went for a walk and arrived at the impressive Royal Palace, a marvel, 2 km by 2 km surrounded by a canal of about 100 metres of water.

on the pavement there were many people sitting on the ground with bags of water ......? ......... slowly I realised that there were small fish inside ......? And that the Burmese came and bought the bags, and then they returned the fish to the water .... all were returned to the water that surrounds the palace ......... what was it about ...? ... this was repeated and repeated, people buying and throwing the little fish into the water ...... I thought there was a reason ..... I found someone who spoke English, and he explained to me that the last day is devoted to thanking Buddha for life, and they buy the fish to release them back into the river............

I found the idea of freeing them so magical, I didn't hesitate for a second and decided that I too wanted to give thanks for my life and my children and free the little fish. I did it, and it was a deep feeling of silent joy, it was how to do a greater good, release little fish ...... it was new to me and inspiring

I continued walking on the other side of the palace for two kilometres and instead of fish there were people with cages and baskets selling birds, and it was the same thing, you bought them and released them. The price was not cheap, so for the Burmese it was a conscious effort to give thanks. Because I had an understanding of the ritual, and with my gratifying experience of the fish, the birds were even more shocking, ........ birds finally flying ....... a powerful symbol .......

I had to free those little birds ........, free them, let them be free and fly where they belonged, THE SKY. I bought 3 birds, I released them one by one and put the name of each of my children and I took it as a personal symbol, "CHILDREN CAN FLY ALONE"

A family with two children of about 7 and 5 years old arrived with more money, they came by car and the family bought a whole cage and released them, it was not cheap as I already mentioned, there were about 30 little birds. All of them with an attitude of reflection, of silence, watching them leave, setting them free. A mystical and spiritual act.

I continued my walk and I stress once again that the 40-degree heat was unbearable, and sorry for repeating it so much but 40 degrees is 40 degrees, thankfully it wasn’t humid so, I tolerated it better until I reached two larger pagodas. On one photo that I had already posted before, the one with the hundreds of white domes, in front of this there is another that was visited by the Burmese, there were zero tourists and being “THE DAY OF GRACE" it was full.

Kuthodaw Paya is very different, it had many buildings next to each other and very different between them, I deduce that every so often, some king or queen in time, built a new one next to the other. It is clear that they were ordained by kings because of their lavish designs. Being in the middle of so many Burmese and without any tourists, my impression was greater, feeling myself immersed in their culture and rites. There are no rites like the ones we know, and each one sits on the ground in front of their preferred statue of Buddha, sometimes in silence and a few times I saw them repeat mantras out loud and all in unison Here there were about 12 altars each with a different connotation; one is dedicated to health, fertility and so on. Burmese come from all over the country. Photos are taken, the parishioners are welcome to spend the day, to take advantage of some shade, and have a picnic, even though it is a sacred place.

And, to top it off, back late in the day and tired from so much walking, but above all from the emotions experienced in the spiritual aspect, it put the finishing touch on the day

In a corner of a small street with a large avenue, there was a table with 6 monks sitting in front of it, It was full of offerings and there were several pilgrims sitting on the ground listening and "chanting" ....... I had run out of battery, I ran to the hostel to look for the charger with the risk of missing out on the opportunity, yes, the ceremony was over, but the monks were walking along the avenue, I followed them, and they settled 3 blocks further on, they were already waiting with a table, full of offerings, and chairs the first row had fruits, and pot plants on it. They sat down, and the ceremony began, it was the same as the previous one, they go from street to street doing these ceremonies, ..... in the streets ..... not in temples ..... the photos are not as good as usual, Some looked at me angrily, it was private even if it was on the street.