Religious Life
Bagan remains deeply Buddhist to this day. We spent most of a morning shadowing a large group of monks collecting alms through a village -- collecting rice and other foods in their bowls . And we fortunate to witness a procession celebrating the initiation of young village boys as monks.
Throughout Buddhist Asia, young boys are expected to spend some early time as monks. In Myanmar it is typically two weeks and helps guarantee the mother's spiritual advancement. The initiation celebration is a huge expense for family (on the order of USD$25,000) and can a bone of contention since it is usually prioritized over a boy's education and health. The opening procession we witnessed consisted of a long line of:
- Young children throwing rice;
- A decorated float;
- All the females in the initiate's extended family, dressed to the nines and many carrying flowers;
- The young initiates riding elaborated decorated horses and wearing heavy makeup;
- Elaborately decorated ox carts;
- A clown couple dancing merrily;
- A cart playing music through large loud speakers.
An interesting description of the entire multi-day initiation can be found here.
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