gold & gems

It was fascinating to learn about their gold and gems industry when we visited gem cutters studios, a "gold leaf" makers home and Mandalay's Jade Market.
The men manually hammer the pure gold into finer than paper thin leaves and they still cut the tiniest gems with unprotected saw-wheels.

dining options while moving around

The food was tasty with Chinese and Indian influences.

While we were moving from town to town, the choice of what to eat became limited, so we went according to "when in Rome........." for better or worse....

On the river boat journeys that lasted two days we became even more stuck for choice.

The children

The children were smiling and cheerful and fun.

Orphans

Many children become novice monks and nuns. Some are orphans and others are put in the monasteries by parents who are too poor to take care of them themselves. They are brought up and given schooling by the monks and nuns.
We visited one such orphanage and met with the head monk who explained about his orphanage. For their everyday needs they get offerings from the village, but their building was badly in need of repair. They were trying to fix it up themselves, but had no money to buy any materials. We donated what we could at that time, but before we return to Burma next summer we plan to organize a special Burmese dinner event at Hibernia one evening as a fundraiser for this orphanage.Here are some videos.....

The monks

We met Monks everywhere. They were very friendly could often speak english. They gave us much of their time & even took us around on the local bus to visit secluded temples, a Nunnery and a Pali school. It added a lot of enjoyment to our trip & we gained better insight into the Burmese culture and the country's dificulties.

The Nuns

One often hears about the Burmese monks, but as well as the 500,000 monks in Burma, there are about 200,000 nuns. They have a few less rules but basically lead a life similar to the monks; living in nuneries, meditating, collecting alms, studying Pali, etc...

Golden Buddha of Maha Muni

The most important temple for the people of Mandalay is The temple of the Golden Buddha of Maha Muni.The Maha Muni image was cast in metal but the "lumpy" appearance (now almost 15 inches thick)of the lower part of the statue today is due to the generations of devotees who have adhered offerings of small squares of gold leaf to the image that only men are allowed to touch.

Ceremonies

The ceremonies were very much a part of everyday life.

Buddist scenes

#1. All auspicious places have a pagoda or shrine.
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#2. Already under restoration.........the biggest Buddha statue in the world is still unfinished.
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#3.In the Banyan trees on the streets, you often see small shrines, with Buddhas & statues of spirits. They have offerings cigarettes, flowers, coffee & incense.
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#4.The "Golden Rock" is covered in gold leaf offerings and rests precariously at the edge of a cliff looking as if it might tumble if given a good push.
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#5. On auspicious days, the full moon etc.. many cash offerings are made to the temples and
are pinned up in public.