Hpaung Daw U Pagoda

Hpaung Daw U Pagoda of Inle Lake, Shan State, Myanmar ~ Take 3

Hpaung Daw U Pagoda, IPA: [pʰàʊɴ dɔ̀ ʔú pʰəjá]), also spelt Hpaung Daw Oo or Phaung Daw Oo) is a notable Buddhist site in Myanmar (formerly Burma), located on the Inle Lake in Shan State.

Surrounding the Pagoda, and in the basement are shops selling traditional Shan and Burmese merchandise.

Images

The pagoda houses five small gilded images of Buddha, which have been covered in gold leaf to the point that their original forms cannot be seen. The gold-leaf application to such excess is relatively recent. Old photographs hanging on the monastery walls show some of the images in a more pristine form. It is reported that some gold has been removed on occasion to reduce its mass. Although the monastery is open to all for veneration, only men are permitted to place gold leaf on the images. Another part of the ritual for pilgrims is to place a small robe or thingan around the images, and to take the robe back to their houses and place it on their own altar as a token of respect for the Buddha and his teachings.

 

Inserted from Wikipedia by SP Lim

Hpaung Daw U Pagoda of Inle Lake, Shan State, Myanmar ~ Take 3

Hpaung Daw U Pagoda of Inle Lake, Shan State, Myanmar ~ Take 3

Hpaung Daw U Pagoda of Inle Lake, Shan State, Myanmar ~ Take 3

Hpaung Daw U Pagoda of Inle Lake, Shan State, Myanmar ~ Take 3

Hpaung Daw U Pagoda of Inle Lake, Shan State, Myanmar ~ Take 3

Hpaung Daw U Pagoda of Inle Lake, Shan State, Myanmar ~ Take 3

Hpaung Daw U Pagoda of Inle Lake, Shan State, Myanmar ~ Take 3

Hpaung Daw U Pagoda

Hpaung Daw U Pagoda of Inle Lake, Shan State, Myanmar ~ Take 2

Hpaung Daw U Pagoda, IPA: [pʰàʊɴ dɔ̀ ʔú pʰəjá]), also spelt Hpaung Daw Oo or Phaung Daw Oo) is a notable Buddhist site in Myanmar (formerly Burma), located on the Inle Lake in Shan State.

Surrounding the Pagoda, and in the basement are shops selling traditional Shan and Burmese merchandise.

Images

The pagoda houses five small gilded images of Buddha, which have been covered in gold leaf to the point that their original forms cannot be seen. The gold-leaf application to such excess is relatively recent. Old photographs hanging on the monastery walls show some of the images in a more pristine form. It is reported that some gold has been removed on occasion to reduce its mass. Although the monastery is open to all for veneration, only men are permitted to place gold leaf on the images. Another part of the ritual for pilgrims is to place a small robe or thingan around the images, and to take the robe back to their houses and place it on their own altar as a token of respect for the Buddha and his teachings.

Inserted by SP Lim from Wikipedia

 

Hpaung Daw U Pagoda of Inle Lake, Shan State, Myanmar ~ Take 2

Hpaung Daw U Pagoda of Inle Lake, Shan State, Myanmar ~ Take 2

Hpaung Daw U Pagoda of Inle Lake, Shan State, Myanmar ~ Take 2

Hpaung Daw U Pagoda of Inle Lake, Shan State, Myanmar ~ Take 2

Hpaung Daw U Pagoda of Inle Lake, Shan State, Myanmar ~ Take 2

Hpaung Daw U Pagoda of Inle Lake, Shan State, Myanmar ~ Take 2

Hpaung Daw U Pagoda

Hpaung Daw U Pagoda of Inle Lake, Shan State, Myanmar ~ Take 1

Hpaung Daw U Pagoda of Inle Lake, Shan State, Myanmar ~ Take 1

Hpaung Daw U Pagoda of Inle Lake, Shan State, Myanmar ~ Take 1

Hpaung Daw U Pagoda of Inle Lake, Shan State, Myanmar ~ Take 1

Hpaung Daw U Pagoda of Inle Lake, Shan State, Myanmar ~ Take 1

Hpaung Daw U Pagoda of Inle Lake, Shan State, Myanmar ~ Take 1

Hpaung Daw U Pagoda of Inle Lake, Shan State, Myanmar ~ Take 1

 

Hpaung Daw U Pagoda, IPA: [pʰàʊɴ dɔ̀ ʔú pʰəjá]), also spelt Hpaung Daw Oo or Phaung Daw Oo) is a notable Buddhist site in Myanmar (formerly Burma), located on the Inle Lake in Shan State.

Surrounding the Pagoda, and in the basement are shops selling traditional Shan and Burmese merchandise.

Images

The pagoda houses five small gilded images of Buddha, which have been covered in gold leaf to the point that their original forms cannot be seen. The gold-leaf application to such excess is relatively recent. Old photographs hanging on the monastery walls show some of the images in a more pristine form. It is reported that some gold has been removed on occasion to reduce its mass. Although the monastery is open to all for veneration, only men are permitted to place gold leaf on the images. Another part of the ritual for pilgrims is to place a small robe or thingan around the images, and to take the robe back to their houses and place it on their own altar as a token of respect for the Buddha and his teachings.

Extracted from Wikipedia by SP Lim

Inserted from Wikipedia  by SP Lim

Hpaung Daw U Pagoda

Hpaung Daw U Pagoda, IPA: [pʰàʊɴ dɔ̀ ʔú pʰəjá]), also spelt Hpaung Daw Oo or Phaung Daw Oo) is a notable Buddhist site in Myanmar (formerly Burma), located on the Inle Lake in Shan State.

Surrounding the Pagoda, and in the basement are shops selling traditional Shan and Burmese merchandise.

Images

The pagoda houses five small gilded images of Buddha, which have been covered in gold leaf to the point that their original forms cannot be seen. The gold-leaf application to such excess is relatively recent. Old photographs hanging on the monastery walls show some of the images in a more pristine form. It is reported that some gold has been removed on occasion to reduce its mass. Although the monastery is open to all for veneration, only men are permitted to place gold leaf on the images. Another part of the ritual for pilgrims is to place a small robe or thingan around the images, and to take the robe back to their houses and place it on their own altar as a token of respect for the Buddha and his teachings.

Phaung Daw U Festival

Phaung Daw U Pagoda Festival karaweik barge.

The images are of differing sizes, range from about nine to eighteen inches tall. Being essentially solid gold, the images are extremely heavy. It is believed that the Buddha images were brought to Inlay Lake by King Alaungsithu.

Annual festival

Annually, during the Burmese month of Thadingyut (from September to October), an 18-day pagoda festival is held, during which four of the Buddha images are placed on a replica of a royal barge designed as a hintha birdand taken throughout Inlay Lake. One image always remains at the temple. The elaborately decorated barge is towed by several boats of leg-rowers rowing in unison, and other accompanying boats, making an impressive procession on the water. The barge is towed from village to village along the shores of the lake in clockwise fashion, and the four images reside at the main monastery in each village for the night.

The high point of the festival is on the day when the images arrive at the main town of Nyaung Shwe, where most pilgrims from the surrounding region come to pay their respects and veneration. In the past, the Saopha of Yawnghwe would personally welcome the images. The images would be taken from the barge and a grand procession would take them to the palace or haw of the Saopha, entering the prayer hall from the eastern entrance, and where it would reside for a few hours. The public was allowed inside the prayer hall of the haw to pay their respects. Then the images would be taken to the main temple in Nyaung Shwe. Since the mid-1960s, the images have bypassed the visit to the haw and taken directly to the temple. It is now usually welcomed to Nyaung Shwe by some high-ranking official in the government.

Sometime in the 1960s during a particularly windy day, when the waves were high on the lake, the barge carrying the images capsized, and the images tumbled into the lake. It was said that they could not recover one image, but that when they went back to the monastery, the missing image was miraculously sitting in its place.

See also

• Inle Lake
• Shwe Indein Pagoda
• Yawnghwe

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Day 4.3 – Our Burma Tour ~ Water Tour of Inle Lake

Day 4.3 – Our Burma Tour ~ Water Tour of Inle Lake

Day 4.3 – Our Burma Tour ~ Water Tour of Inle Lake

Day 4.3 – Our Burma Tour ~ Water Tour of Inle Lake

Day 4.3 – Our Burma Tour ~ Water Tour of Inle Lake

Day 4.3 – Our Burma Tour ~ Water Tour of Inle Lake

Day 4.3 – Our Burma Tour ~ Water Tour of Inle Lake

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Day 3.2 ~ Visit to the Green Hill Valley Elephant Camp

After Breakfast at Amara Montain Resort, Kalaw, Myanmar we were headed towards the Green Hill Valley Elephant Camp for the day. We had checked out of the hotel as we were heading towards Inle Lake after the Elephant Camp. We had an Indian food lunch at the Green Hill Valley Elephant Camp.

SP Lim

(14.11.2016) Day 3:/ Kalaw >> Elephant Camp >> Nyaung Shwe

After Breakfast at your hotel, around 9 am, move to Elephant Camp, see and feel how nature is beautiful and also see how mahout life. Together with mahout, Feeding and bathing elephant, (riding elephant will cost extra charge).

Lunch at Elephant camp After Lunch, move to Inle Lake, Upon your arrival in Nyaung Shwe, move to Hotel on the lake. Overnight in Aureum Palace Resort and Spa.

Lunch and Dinner by Own Account

Extracted from the Official Itinerary.

 

Day 3.2 ~ Visit to the Green Hill Valley Elephant Camp

Day 3.2 ~ Visit to the Green Hill Valley Elephant Camp

Day 3.2 ~ Visit to the Green Hill Valley Elephant Camp

Day 3.2 ~ Visit to the Green Hill Valley Elephant Camp

Day 3.2 ~ Visit to the Green Hill Valley Elephant Camp

Day 3.2 ~ Visit to the Green Hill Valley Elephant Camp

Elephants are large mammals of the family Elephantidae and the order Proboscidea. Two species are traditionally recognised, the African elephant (Loxodonta africana) and the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus), although some evidence suggests that African bush elephants and African forest elephants are separate species (L. africana and L. cyclotis respectively). Elephants are scattered throughout sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. Elephantidae is the only surviving family of the order Proboscidea; other, now extinct, members of the order include deinotheres, gomphotheres, mammoths, and mastodons. Male African elephants are the largest extant terrestrial animals and can reach a height of 4 m (13 ft) and weigh 7,000 kg (15,000 lb). All elephants have several distinctive features, the most notable of which is a long trunk or proboscis, used for many purposes, particularly breathing, lifting water and grasping objects. Their incisors grow into tusks, which can serve as weapons and as tools for moving objects and digging. Elephants’ large ear flaps help to control their body temperature. Their pillar-like legs can carry their great weight. African elephants have larger ears and concave backs while Asian elephants have smaller ears and convex or level backs.

Elephants are herbivorous and can be found in different habitats including savannahs, forests, deserts and marshes. They prefer to stay near water. They are considered to be keystone species due to their impact on their environments. Other animals tend to keep their distance from elephants, while predators such as lions, tigers, hyenas, and wild dogs usually target only young elephants (or “calves”). Females (“cows”) tend to live in family groups, which can consist of one female with her calves or several related females with offspring. The groups are led by an individual known as the matriarch, often the oldest cow. Elephants have a fission–fusion society in which multiple family groups come together to socialise. Males (“bulls”) leave their family groups when they reach puberty, and may live alone or with other males. Adult bulls mostly interact with family groups when looking for a mate and enter a state of increased testosterone and aggression known as musth, which helps them gain dominance and reproductive success. Calves are the centre of attention in their family groups and rely on their mothers for as long as three years. Elephants can live up to 70 years in the wild. They communicate by touch, sight, smell and sound; elephants use infrasound, and seismic communication over long distances. Elephant intelligence has been compared with that of primates and cetaceans. They appear to have self-awareness and show empathy for dying or dead individuals of their kind.

African elephants are listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), while the Asian elephant is classed as endangered. One of the biggest threats to elephant populations is the ivory trade, as the animals are poached for their ivory tusks. Other threats to wild elephants include habitat destruction and conflicts with local people. Elephants are used as working animals in Asia. In the past they were used in war; today, they are often controversially put on display in zoos, or exploited for entertainment in circuses. Elephants are highly recognisable and have been featured in art, folklore, religion, literature and popular culture.

Inserted from Wikipedia by SP Lim.

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Burmese Puppets

Disappointing start to 2017 with my painful arthritis leg causing walking problem, my 2 old out-dated handphones not functioning due to memory problem, chasing for my license after submission in November 2016 (luckily got this), death of a friend, unstable internet with swelling emails and Vitamin M flow problem. Sigh. Life goes on if we are still alive and we shall survive these hardship.

SP Lim

Burmese Puppets

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Night 2.2 ~ At the Amara Mountain Resort. Kalaw

Night 2.2 ~ At the Amara Mountain Resort

Night 2.2 ~ At the Amara Mountain Resort

Night 2.2 ~ At the Amara Mountain Resort

Night 2.2 ~ At the Amara Mountain Resort

Night 2.2 ~ At the Amara Mountain Resort

Night 2.2 ~ At the Amara Mountain Resort

Night 2.2 ~ At the Amara Mountain Resort

 

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Night 2.1 ~ At the Amara Mountain Resort, Kalaw, Myanmar

Night 2.1 ~ At the Amara Mountain Resort

Night 2.1 ~ At the Amara Mountain Resort

Night 2.1 ~ At the Amara Mountain Resort

Night 2.1 ~ At the Amara Mountain Resort

Night 2.1 ~ At the Amara Mountain Resort

Night 2.1 ~ At the Amara Mountain Resort

Night 2.1 ~ At the Amara Mountain Resort

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Day 2.18 – Pindaya Caves of Pindaya, Shan State, Burma (Myanmar) – The Final Chapter

(13.11.2016) Day 2:/ Yangon>> Heho- Pindaya – Kalaw

After Breakfast at Taw Win Hotel, Move to Yangon Domestic Airport to catch flight to Heho. Upon arrival in Heho, you will proceed by road directly to Pindaya (59 km – 2 hour), a quiet town on the banks of the serene Botoloke Lake. Home to the local Danu people, Pindaya can only be reached by small and windy roads which snake their way through mountain ranges from Mandalay, Inle Lake, or Bagan. Visit the renowned Pindaya Caves, a unique site housing thousands of Buddha images, the caves are estimated to have been formed more than 200 million years ago. The opening of the cave involves a walk past the Shwe U Min Pagodas – giant white stupas which climb out of the ground. Continue on a narrow, winding and historic road (50km – 1 ½ hour) through the Shan Hills to Kalaw, a unique settlement that is situated on the perimeter of the Shan Plateau, which serves as a bazaar for many ethnic groups from the surrounding regions. Overnight in Amara Mountain Resort.

Lunch and Dinner by Own Account.

Extracted from the Official Itinerary.

 

Day 2.18 – Pindaya Caves of Pindaya, Shan State, Burma (Myanmar)

Day 2.18 – Pindaya Caves of Pindaya, Shan State, Burma (Myanmar)

Day 2.18 – Pindaya Caves of Pindaya, Shan State, Burma (Myanmar)

Day 2.18 – Pindaya Caves of Pindaya, Shan State, Burma (Myanmar)

Day 2.18 – Pindaya Caves of Pindaya, Shan State, Burma (Myanmar)

Day 2.18 – Pindaya Caves of Pindaya, Shan State, Burma (Myanmar) – Leaving by the main entrance of Pindaya Caves.

Day 2.18 – Pindaya Caves of Pindaya, Shan State, Burma (Myanmar) – Aerial view of the Pindaya Caves Temple from the lift.

Day 2.18 – Pindaya Caves of Pindaya, Shan State, Burma (Myanmar) – Group photo of the Travellers – Mother, Sister, Brother-in-law and the Assistants – Tini and Han, Blogger was taking the photograph.

Day 2.18 – Pindaya Caves of Pindaya, Shan State, Burma (Myanmar) – Group photo of the Travellers – Mother, Sister, Brother-in-law and the Assistants – Tini and Han,

Day 2.18 – Pindaya Caves of Pindaya, Shan State, Burma (Myanmar) -Even as we were leaving, more Burmese visitors were arriving as today is a significant day of the super full moon of November 2016.

Day 2.18 – Pindaya Caves of Pindaya, Shan State, Burma (Myanmar)