By Michael Aquino
Southeast Asia Travel Expert, about.com
Hpaung Daw U Pagoda retains an almost sacramental value to Inle Lake residents in Myanmar.
Easily accessible thanks to its central location in Ywama Village,
Hpaung Daw U stands in the middle of a large plaza inhabited by souvenir
sellers and hundreds of pigeons.
Inside the Pagoda, visitors will
find five Buddha images encrusted in gold, each image representing the
Buddhas of this age (four in the past and one in the future).
Veneration
of the Buddhas reaches a peak around September or October, on the
Burmese lunar month of Thadingyut, when the Buddha images leave the
temple to tour Inle Lake villages over the course of 18 days.
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Getting to Hpaung Daw U Pagoda
Given
its accessibility and local color, Hpaung Daw U is always included in
tours of Inle Lake. Ywama Village lies on the middle west side of Inle
Lake, putting it close to other attractions like Ywama's floating market
and the stupas at Shwe Indein.
From the main lake body,
speedboats enter an inlet that goes straight to Ywama Village; boats
dock at the crowded jetty in front of Hpaung Daw U, allowing guests to
disembark and climb right onto the plaza in front of the pagoda itself.
As you follow the eastern exit of Hpaung Daw U, you'll find a single ATM (read about money in Myanmar) and a row of souvenir sellers hawking fake antique coins, wood carvings, knives, bags and watches.
[post_ads]Five Buddha Images
Five
Buddha images can be found within the interior of the pagoda. Unlike
most Myanma pagodas which hold only four, Hpaung Daw U Pagoda has five -
the four Buddhas of the past, along with the Buddha yet to come. (Find
out more in our article about deciphering Myanmar's temples.)
The
Buddha images range in size from nine to eighteen inches in height.
None of these are recognizable as Buddha images, as devotees over the
years have covered each image with gold leaf, to the point that they
look more like misshapen gold fruits.
Inle Lake folklore holds
that the images were given to the local lake peoples by the Bagan King
Sithu I, who reigned between 1112 and 1167 as King in Bagan. Sithu was
an avid traveler, who often sailed around local waters on his royal
barge. The pagoda marks a local site where King Sithu is said to have
stopped his barge during his travels.
Hpaung Daw U Festival
During
the month of Thadingyut (around September or October), four of the five
Buddha images make a grand circuit of Inle Lake's villages, taking
eighteen days to complete the tour.
Loaded onto a golden barge
built especially for the occasion, the four Buddha images make the slow
trip, towed by boats rowed by Inle Lake's famous leg-rowers. The barge
tours the lake in a clockwise direction, with the four Buddha images
spending each night in a different town monastery.
The festival
reaches its peak when the barge reaches the town of Nyaungshwe, where
pilgrims from all around the Shan state converge to venerate the
statues.
But why do the Shan only take four Buddha images? The
Inle townsfolk fear a repeat of a previous incident. According to
legend, the last time the Inle folk took all five images on board, a
storm capsized the barge, sending all the images to the bottom of the
lake.
Four were retrieved, but they gave up on the fifth after a
long search. Upon returning to the pagoda, they found the fifth image
back in its original place - wet but intact!
Hpaung Daw U Festival
is a moveable feast relative to the Gregorian Calendar. As per the
Burmese lunar calendar, the festival begins on the first Waxing Moon day
of Thadingyut and ends 18 days later, a few days past the next full
moon. On the Gregorian Calendar, the festival takes place on the
following dates:
- 2015: October 14-31
- 2016: October 2-19
- 2017: September 21-October 8
- 2018: October 10-27
Tips for Hpaung Daw U Visitors
If you're planning to visit Hpaung Daw U (as is likely, if you're around Inle Lake), please keep the following tips in mind:
- Try to visit during market day. Each major town in Inle Lake takes turns hosting market day, each turn going around in a five-day cycle. (That means it's market day every five days in any given town.) The market sets up on a field on the southeastern exit of the pagoda - snacks, souvenirs, clothing, and even DVDs are fair game for visitors with the time and inclination to haggle.
- Wear something decent. Wear modest clothing; no short shorts or spaghetti strap tops for women, no tank tops for men. Remember to take off your footwear as you enter the pagoda area. More information here: Etiquette in Myanmar.
- Feed the pigeons. Bags of seed can be purchased at the temple gates to feed the hungry pigeons that congregate on the western front plaza of the pagoda.
