After practically spending the entire morning sleeping in the cool airconditioned room of Motherland Inn II, it was time for me to get back on my trip. After all, I shouldn’t be wasting my time on sleeping the day away. Now the festival of Thingyan is already well underway. The Thingyan festival is the new festival of Myanmar and is equivalent to the Songkran festival in Thailand. As part of the merriment, it is tradition to splash other people with water, even total strangers.
With this in mind, I made up my mind to visit the Chaukhtatgyi Paya which quite a distance away from Motherland Inn II. I didn’t want to take a taxi there since I don’t have much money with me so I walked. The pagoda was a good five kilometers away and in between are a lot of merrimakers just waiting to soak someone. This won’t be easy. I found myself having to watch out for any one who has a pail of water along the road and I would quickly cross the street to the other side to avoid them. Sometimes, I would pass right behind them and they would not mind me.
I learned all these tricks from elderly gentleman I met along the road and I served me well having only gotten a few minor splashes. The Chaukhtatgyi Paya is along a main road of Myanmar and is very new the Shwedagon Paya. The main feature of the pagoda is the massive reclining Buddha that is housed inside. The pagoda was built in 1907 but was rebuilt when it suffered significant damages. It is currently the largest reclining Buddha in Myanmar. A lot at the Buddha and you would realize how small and insignificant you are. The mesmerizing eyes are made of glass by a famous glass maker.
At 72 meters long, which makes it longer than the reclining Buddha in Wat Pho in Bangkok, the Buddha dwarfs the faithful that come to pray beside it. I found myself having to figure out a way to take a proper photo of the Buddha since it was really huge and I was so close to it, I can’t take a photo of it in its entirety. The only option is to take the photo from the feet of the Buddha. The feet of the Buddha are adorned with a pattern which represents the 108 characteristics of the Buddha. I have seen enough of this kind of thing, but this was truly impressive and the fact that there were hardly any tourists here make it even more special.
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