N 53 A Trip to Mwaydaw Nam Set (part 2 )

But there was nobody in the fairly neat and wide compound. Not even an animal was to be seen. We were  all alone by ourselves. Then we realized that we had come at the wrong time.

What the women at Kakku told us that there are about half the amount of Kakku pagodas is not true. There is only one big golden pagoda and some pagodas that look like old around it. We went into the small homage paying area where there is an old image inside a niche and one reclining statue and said our prayers.

After paying homage we put down our mats on the grass and prepare to have lunch. Everybody had packed some kinds of food and when we had laid all of them our lunch was like a feast. So although it was still early everybody ate heartily.

After all had eaten we wandered around the pagodas. I saw a zayat with open door. When I peeped in to see if there was  somebody so that I could ask questions I found none. Also  the building close to the pagoda is empty. So I gave up the idea of enquiring about the pagoda.

Beyond the compound there are many big banyan trees like other religious places. Some of us thought  the pagodas are not as old as the Kakku pagodas. And I noticed that the work is not very neat and impressive. But we can understand that this is a remote part of Shan State.

It was over noon when we set back on our way home. After Hsai Khao the Kyauk Talone road branched out to the west ,towards Kakku. So as not to trace back our old route we took this road. It was an unpaved road but smooth and not very dusty yet. Eventually we reached the paved road to Kakku and before long we sighted the amazing Kakku Pagodas.

  (  PS….the festival time of Mwaydaw Nam Set  is from 7^th to 9^th of the waning days of Tazaungmone ) 

N52   A Trip to Mwaydaw Nam Set ( Nam Set Pagoda )     Part 1

While visiting the famous Kakku Pagodas of Taunggyi last year I heard from shopkeepers there that there is another group of pagodas like Kakku in that area. So I thought I would visit this place someday.

Hopone Pagodas
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In one of the summer months this year I had to visit Kakku again. I had thought about taking a guide from there and go to the place they told me about.

But when I enquired about it , they told me that the place is twice the distance from Taunggyi, the road not good and there will be no people there during this season and advised me to go only during festival  time which takes place in the waxing days of Tazaungmone month.

Come the period they mentioned and so I organized a group and cars to go there. When I asked people about the place nobody seems to know about  it except that it is in Hsi Hsaing Township.

I called my friend Daw Hla Htay who had worked there as a TEO for some years and even she didn’t know about it but she said she will call the residing TEO and enquired for me. After some time she called back and told me about the Pagoda. The name is’ Mway Daw Nam Set .‘We have to go by Taunggyi Loikaw road past Banyin , Nawng Worn and Hsai Khao, not reaching Hsi Hsaing. After Hsai Khao we have to turn and go along a small  road which leads to the pagoda.

We calculated the distance and found out it would be about 60 miles from Taunggyi. So we set off at 7 am. We stop for a short break at Banyin a small town . Then to Nawng worn which is famous for its production of Shan rice. The road is a narrow tar road but sometimes we had to pass over pebble covered rough road.

The scenery around is amazing with golden colour rice fields ready to be cut and the clouds in the sky formed different pretty shapes. Seeing these beautiful sights My mind wandered about our country. How beautiful  our land is , what simple lives our country  people are leading  and striving for their livelihoods. I wish our people’s lives to be more developed, to have better homes, not to have to work so hard, to have access to modern machinery,and so on. But this is only my wish. Only a few people have better houses,cell phones, electricity and unlicenced vehicles now while most are still poor with not much education.

After some time we reached Hsai Khao. And then before long we came to a place where a small road branches out to the west. There is a concrete signboard there on which was written  “ Mway Daw Nam Sit “

 So we took this unpaved road and drove along. We didn’t  know how far the pagoda is .So when we saw one or a group of pagodas we wondered  if this was the one we had come to pay homage. But none was. We drove on and after two places where it would be difficult for saloons to cross due to road condition ( luckily we brought higher cars ) we saw the gate of the pagoda. So this is Mway Daw Nam Set ( Shan language ) we had ventured to visit.

N 51     Continuation of Bamboo Artisan 

 

  The monk is not young. He may be about 70 years of age by now. He is a “ Lu “ man ( a tribe of Shan ) from the Shan –Thai border. He is aiming to weave 108 Buddha images .( The number 108 being a sacred number for Buddhists. )Out of this number he had finished over 70. He goes wherever people want to make a Buddha image, not asking for a price for weaving it , but accept what is offered to him only.

      

On hearing about this monk my mind started to wander. I asked what about weaving other things such as what people regard as art objects like the bamboo objects they make in Merng Naung . We are a people who doesn’t have much art skills. She said he can easily make them , even his assistants can do so. His assistants are also priests like him. I thought then he should pass his skills , his craftsmanship to the young generation. So they would not become extinct. She told me that he is ready to teach whoever wants to learn from him.

     Bamboo works are a  kind of craft the Shan people can master.Shan people don’t have much distinctive creation in art and craft. As I have mentioned above there is the bamboo weaving of Merng Naung, where they make objects like rice  or trinkets containers, and hats and khamouks for women. But the handiworks are crude and there are no new creations. There is the earthern ware of Merng Kaing. which are not much in use now. I don’t know if  the ironware of Som Taung , Kengtung which was mentioned in “Quiet Skies on Salween “ thriving or not. But I don’t think I will be wrong for what I said about we don’t have much skills in art and craft.

    

     

  But what the monk is doing can be called a work of art beside meritorious deed. He is a craftsman , an artisan. Young people from our creation lacking land should learn from him ,should take advantage of his skills and based on this skills should enhance this form of art and craft. If this craft flourish the livelihood of the Shan people will be better and they may contribute to the few craftsmanship that the Shan people already have.        

     

N50      Bamboo Artisan

There is a wide variety of bamboos in our country. And they are also plentiful  and grow well in most parts of our country. So people learned how to use bamboo from long ago. In fact it can be said to be the most basic material for people to use in our country.

    

  The most important use of bamboo is making houses, mostly in rural areas. Everything from the pole to the roof can be made with bamboo. And then people uses bamboo to make their everyday needs. Things that are needed to use in agriculture works, in kitchens, in markets and even toys for children. Tender shoots of bamboo are eaten as food called hmyit. There are stories about people who lost their way in thick forests and survive by eating bamboo shoots.

    

  So bamboo has a very important role in Myanmar people’s lives. Our forests are nearly gone now due to excessive logging. And our bamboo groves will be the next to be depleted as China is buying tender bamboo shoots and people are extracting them as much as they can, according to greediness and lack of rule of the law.  There are some people who are worried that bamboo will disappear and I have posted about it in my facebook page  written in Burmese. But I know it will not have much effect. When will our people come to their senses…..?

     

My actual aim in writing this piece is about one extraordinary use of bamboo and the man who uses it.

   

   He is not a layman but a monk. The relative who told me about him does not know his real name. They called him “  Sao Pu  “ only. She said she know him because he had made images of Lord Buddha in her village. Two of them and each about    13   feet in height.      

 To be continued…..  

      

     

N48            Tree Lover

Today I watched a documentary film on CCTV. The title is “  The Ancient Dove  Tree”. Lately I have been one of the citizens who has awareness and concerns about our  environment. So forests and trees have become one of my interests, and have been expressing my concerns about them in my blogs and facebook.This is the only thing I can do . My wishes about trees are to limit cutting and do replanting more intensively. Tree planting ceremonies in towns and cities to mark the tree planting season will not be enough . Trees need to be grown in the inner country where logging had taken place widely.

        

Another thing I have been thinking lately is to introduce new trees to our country. The documentary I watched today suits my wishes . So I want to relate about it.

     

  It is about efforts made by some people to get a plant from one place and spread it to another places. During the 19^th century a missionary who was working in China sent a picture of a tree’s leaf with its flower to a botanist in Paris. They thought that the leaf looked like the fossil of an ancient tree they found in Europe . So the tree in China should be that tree that had  become extinct in Europe. The flowers when they bloom are white in colour and looks like butterflies or doves . So they called it the Dove Tree.

To find the tree an Englishman named Ernest Wilson was sent to China. Ernest was working in a botanical garden in Kew by then. But he went to China in 1899 by ship. With the hint given to him by some missionary Ernest finally located the tree though it was not an easy work. Life in China was harsh by then but he stayed three years doing researches, collecting plants and trees and taking photos. In 1902 he returned to England with some seeds of the Dove Tree.

      

But when they planted the seeds they wouldn’t sprout. When they cut the seeds in half they found out that the outer covering was very thick that it would take 3 years for the seedling to come out. But gradually they succeeded in getting some plants to grow.

The plants later spreaded to other European countries and even to North America where  one tree can be seen  in the compound of the White House now.

     

  Ernest even went back to China another 4 times to collect plants and trees . He brought back about 1000 plants and 1000 photos.

   

   In 1954 Chinese premier Chou En Lai attended a summit in Geneva, Switzerland. He saw the tree with it’s flowers and was impressed by it and asked what tree was it/ He was told it was Dove tree and that it came from China. So Chou, when arrived back in China gave directions to look for the trees, do research on them  and spread them to other parts of the country, which they did also with some difficulties.

     

I think my wish to introduce new trees comes from my observation of nature. My mind doesn’t let anything I see pass away easily. When I see something nice I will appreciate it and when I see the opposite I have to try hard to erase it from my mind. So when I see beautiful trees I come to like them and am greedy enough to bring them to my land.

to be continued……

  N49             continuation of Tree Lover

  

  Here are some of my likes;

In the book “ Silk Road “ there are some places where they mentioned poplar trees. It is said to be tall and not wide spread. When I looked up for its images I saw that they are pretty trees. When they are planted on roadside in rows they look magnificent. I would like to plant Poplar trees in our country.

   

As I have often written in my blogs and articles I would like to plant new species of Cherry trees in Taunggyi. The few trees that we can see in Taunggyi are some of the leftovers after destroying and cutting down by people who do not love nature and use them for their own purpose. But this year people of Taunggyi has become alert and are starting to plant new trees and Cherry trees as well. But as I have said it will be better if we can plant new species from abroad to adorn our roadside and make them into boulevards for people to enjoy when the blooming season come and maybe we can have Cherry blossom festivals like in Washington and Kyoto.

   

  When I see beautiful trees I always appreciate them. When I went to Shwe  Li some years ago I saw some pine trees there. They cover the whole hill where the Shan monastery we visited situated. The pines or maybe Spruce are so beautiful with the perfect shape of Christmas trees  that I want to bring some home. But I did not put some efforts to do so. So the images of the trees remains only in my mind.

   

  While in Australia I saw some beautiful trees . They have beautiful perfect shapes of a tree and the colours are so green and lustrous. Maybe the environment is so clean that even the trees are not covered with dust like ours. Their parks are generally green lawns dotted with big trees and benches to sit on. There are not even colourful flowers but they are perfect places for strolls and leisure.

   

  In Tasmania we visited a place call Plenty. It is a fish hatching plant where they raise Trout and Salmon. The fish ponds are not just rectangular ponds but with different shapes and sizes to suit the eyes. Beside those pretty fish ponds and green lawns they also have big trees in their compound. They were brought there from many countries a long time ago and they have grown big. They take care of their trees and put label on each tree like Englisha Elm, Japanese Spruce and so on.

     

Big trees in our country , whichever can be used for something have been cut down. I think only Banyan trees remain as they cannot be used for people’s uses.

People  have been moving from place to place since the start of civilization. In this way plants and trees, cultures, religions had spread throughout the world. Trees also had spread from place to place through the efforts of tree loving people like Ernest Wilson.There is no harm in having new trees. In fact they benefit people in many ways. So we should we should 

 welcome new  trees to our land. But it can be realized only if there are people who are willing to bring them in. So I hope tree loving people like Ernest Wilson or some institutions will emerge in our country to make it more greener and livable with green and beautiful trees.

N 47  …… Continuation of Environmental Awareness

I like this programme. There are lots of spare lands in our country. The government should impose such law on the citizens. To plant one tree and take care that it grow well in one’s life. To plant them anywhere , where it is convenient, and not only in their compound. But if so there will be some difficulties for people who live in big cities. But then most people who are living in big cities have their own hometown. They can plant their trees in their own hometown.

    

  Imagining that it will be good if the government impose such law, I in advance planted 4 trees for 4 members of my family, in a school compound near our house in Taunggyi after obtaining permission from the headmistress. Anyway they have some spare land and  are in need of trees which the children had been planting last rainy season but were unsuccessful because there were no fencing. I hope my trees grow well.

    

  One thing I want to add is about the cause of cutting trees. The trees around our town are not part of a big forest , so they  can not  be used for  commercial purposes.  But only  local people cut and  who uses them for firewood. And sometimes fire break out on the mountain devouring patches of the remaining forest.

    

  I heard someone suggest that the government should not sell the country’s gas to neighbouring countries. Instead they should build gas factories and produce gas tanks and let the people use for cooking. This way will save many of our trees and also promote our standard of living.

     

  If we think about the future of our country there are many things to do. Most of them can be done only by the government. But people, individually or by forming groups or organizations can also be of  much help.

     

So I welcome all activities that aim for the good of the country. I welcome the Shan Cherry tree planting group, the foremost Greenland group and all groups involving in all charity and welfare activities.