According to the legend, which originates from a tale in the Pali Canon, two merchant brothers from Burma, Taphussa and Bhallika, traveled to north India and met Siddhārtha Gautama 49 days after his enlightenment. The brothers offered the Enlightened One honey cakes and became his first lay followers. As a gift for Burma’s king, Gautama Buddha gave the brothers eight strands of hair from his head, which they brought back to present-day Yangon in a ruby casket — losing and miraculously regaining four of the hairs along the way — and enshrined at the top of Singuttara Hill on the same spot where relics from the three previous Buddhas were buried. (At the beginning of time, five lotus buds appeared atop Singuttara Hill for each of the five Buddhas who would grace the earth and guide humanity towards Nirvana. Siddhārtha Gautama was number four.) The ruby casket was put into an underground chamber, along with a sprinkle of Burmese gems, and covered with a large gold-plated stone slab. Then stupa upon stupa in gold, silver, copper, bronze, iron, marble and finally gold-plated brick were erected on the site. The present structure dates to the 18th century, rebuilt after one of Burma’s many earthquakes, and the surrounding pavilions, pagodas and shrines were added during the 19th and 20th centuries. Nobody knows exactly what lies under Shwedagon today, but it’s believed there are numerous underground chambers housing these Buddha relics and gems.

The architecture of Shwedagon Pagoda is testament to the natural riches of ‘The Golden Land’ and to the intense devotion and creative spirit of its people. Built on an octagonal base of 8,677 gold-plated bricks and standing 99 meters (325 feet) high, the pagoda rises from three massive terraces and transforms into different symbolic shapes — the bell, the inverted alms bowl, the turban band, the lotus petals, the banana bud — until it reaches the top where it’s crowned with 1,065 golden bells, 7,500 diamonds, rubies and other gems, and a single 76-carat diamond at the very top. The design gives the impression of being at once ancient and modern, masculine and feminine, solid and fluid, earthy and ethereal. It glows different shades of gold throughout the day — from pink champagne at dawn to golden honey at dusk — and emits the faint sound of chiming bells from atop the small shrines surrounding it. Most people circle the stupa clockwise (per Buddhist custom) and make prayers and offerings at different locations depending on their beliefs, affiliations or needs of the day.

After the pagoda itself, the second-most significant devotional phenomenon at Shwedagon is the group of eight Planetary Posts situated at the eight corners of the pagoda’s base. Each Planetary Post corresponds to one of the eight directions on the compass, one of the eight planets recognized in Burmese astrology, one of the eight days of the week (the Burmese astrological calendar divides Wednesday into two at noon), and a mythological animal. The posts are outfitted with a standing water fountain and pool for three small statues: a white marble Buddha, a guardian deity behind the Buddha, and the post’s mythological animal at the base. (Sunday is most impressive post, guarded by a huge garuda, the mythical half-bird half-beast guard of Mount Meru, center of the universe in Buddhist and Hindu cosmologies.) Devotees perform rituals at the post associated with the day of their birth, usually beginning with a standard prayer (okasa) followed by pouring three cups of water (or more) over each of the three statues, and sometimes offering candles, incense, trays of food, flowers and colored paper umbrellas. Astrologers advise people on how to perform their rituals at the Planetary Posts for maximum effect depending on their life circumstances.

Additionally, dozens of smaller devotional sites are sprinkled around the Shwedagon complex, including miracle-working images (always high in demand), nat spirit shrines, a mini version of the Mahabodhi Temple, a bodhi tree descendant from the one under which the Buddha awoke in India, two of Burma’s largest bells (Singu Min Bell weighs 23 tons and is legendary in its own right), three stone slabs from the 15th century inscribed with the legend of Shwedagon, a nine meter (30 feet) high seated Buddha, and modern-day graphic scrolls recounting tales of the Buddha’s life in a sort of psychedelic visual language. Adding to the surreal atmosphere, figures from the Burmese supernatural world are all around — ogres, flying wizards, earth goddesses, yogis, guardian deities, elephants, lions, naga serpents and other creatures.

Most Burmese Buddhists believe in astrology and nats (spirits) without any sense of conflict with Buddhism. Astrology was introduced to Burma by Hindu Brahmin astrologers who once advised the Burmese Royal Court on political matters, and since then it’s played a serious role in Burmese politics and culture. Today, most Burmese believe the day of the week on which they were born greatly influences the course of their lives and consult astrologers (and palmists) when they need guidance on matters of marriage, family and business, or just to avoid back luck and maintain peace of mind.

Nat worship pre-dates Buddhism and nat spirits come in two varieties. The 37 Great Nats are the spirits of people (usually connected to Burmese royalty) who died some kind of violent death. They have bad tempers and need to be controlled, but can also grant wishes if properly rewarded. “Love the Buddha, fear the nats,” as the saying goes. (The major exception to this is the king of the nats who goes around doing good deeds.) The other nats are the spirits of natural world — mountains, trees, water, etc. — which are important in a country where most people depend on the land and weather for their livelihoods. Nats are lower than the Buddha, but hugely powerful. Probably every village and Buddhist temple in Burma has a nat shrine, and nowhere do the three belief systems — Theravada Buddhism, astrology and nat worship — syncretize more visibly than at Shwedagon Pagoda.

Aside from being the foremost spiritual site in Burma, Shwedagon is the main social (and political protest) site for the citizens of Yangon. Monks and nuns arrive at four in the morning and fill the site’s nooks and crannies in prayer and chanting. Office workers young and old come to meditate before work. Brown-robed yogis circle the pagoda in slow-walking meditation. Friends and families dressed in their Sunday best make their devotional rounds and gain merit for the next lifetime. Young couples and friends stroll hand in hand. Children run around freely and play. People read the papers, chat with friends, have picnics and nap in the shade of the open-air temples. Bands of volunteers work to keep the place clean. Novice monks are initiated in large ceremonies. Groups of Shan, Kachin and other Burmese ethnic minorities come on pilgrimage wearing traditional dress and have their photos taken in front of the pagoda. And so on. It’s always a feast for the eyes and soul at Shwedagon, and let’s hope it stays this way.

For more images, please see the Shwedagon Pagoda portfolio at my main website.

The largest ethnic group of Inle Lake are the Intha, meaning “Sons of the Lake,” a Tibeto-Burmese people who migrated from Burma’s southern Mon state in the 18th century and today speak an archaic form of Burmese. They number about 70,000 and live on and around the lake in teak and bamboo houses built on stilts. They’re self-sufficient gardeners and fishers. The Intha fishermen (and a few women) are known for their standing, one-legged boat rowing style, which helps them to see beyond the thick reeds and plants that grow in the water. In addition to the Intha, people from the Pa-O, Taungyo, Kayah, Danaw and other Shan ethnic groups live around the lake. There are about 200 villages in total.

Some of the unique aspects of the lake are its man-made floating gardens (primarily tomatoes and beans), a natural hot springs (soaked in by locals and tourists), silk and lotus textile weaving (including silk longyi in traditional Shan designs and a special “lotus robe” for highly ordained Buddhist monks), and the production of Shan handbags, cheroots (stogie cigars) and yellow tofu. A five-day rotating market brings people together to buy, sell and trade everything from produce and cattle to lipstick and handmade machetes.

As most Burmese are devout Buddhists, the lake and surrounding villages are home to numerous monasteries, nunneries and sacred sites. Among the most interesting (and photogenic) are the fields of ancient stupas at InnDein and Kekku and the teak monastery of Nyaungshwe. The lake’s most important temple is Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda, home to five highly-revered, gold Buddha statues. During Buddhist lent in September/October, the statues are put on a golden boat and taken to the surrounding villages to drive away evil spirits.

The most abundant fish of the lake is Inle Carp, a staple of the local diet and primary protein in the Intha’s signature dish, htamin jin. This dish is made of fresh or fermented Shan rice kneaded with boiled fish (usually Inle Carp), fresh tomato paste, mashed potatoes and garlic, and topped with garlic oil and garlic chive roots. It’s usually served with Shan tofu (a crunchy, “twice cooked” tofu made from yellow split peas) and a small dish of oil with red chili flakes.

As an eco-region, the lake is host to some 20,000 brown and black head migratory seagulls from November to January and is home to a number of wildlife species that exist nowhere else in the world, mostly snails and fish. In recent years, the lake has suffered from serious environmental degradation and its size decreased by a third. Most of the damage has come from chemical pesticides and fertilizers used for the floating gardens. Farmers have been unaware of the side effects caused by these chemicals but are slowly being educated about their dangers, as well as sustainable and organic farming. Also, increased population (sewage), tourism (noise pollution), deforestation from “slash and burn” farming on the surrounding hills, and global warming have added to the degradation. In the summer of 2010, the lake reached its lowest point in 50 years, and perhaps all but one of the fish species native the lake have gone extinct. The waters are polluted and unsafe for drinking, fishermen are finding it hard to survive, certain flowers on the hills are no longer blooming, and so on.

As most people are still living off (and in harmony with) the lake and surrounding land, its conservation is critical to their survival and the survival of the lake for future generations. The government is now collaborating with UN-HABITAT to restore the lake’s environment and ecosystem before it’s all gone for good. And the lake is inscribed on UNESCO’s tentative World Heritage list, which would further support its conservation. Let’s hope that when the economic sanctions on Burma are lifted, the global community will step in to help the country protect its natural and cultural heritage.

In the meantime, there’s still much to enjoy about this peaceful pocket of paradise on Earth, so here you go!

Kyaiktiyo (pronounced like Chai-tea-O) Pagoda is the third most sacred site of the “Golden Land” of Burma, after Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon and Mahamuni Temple in Mandalay. According to legend, a hair relic of the Buddha holds this massive boulder in its precarious position.

Located in a beautiful jungle forest region in Burma’s southern Mon state, it’s a pilgrimage to reach Mount Kyaiktiyo no matter how one makes the journey. Most people take the bus to the base camp town of Kinpun, then pile onto the back of a large truck with about 35-40 other people for a high speed ride up a bumpy, windy mountain road for about 45 minutes (like a real-life roller coaster ride), and then walk up a very steep, windy hill for another 45 minutes or so to the top. Some people also walk from the base camp to the top, about 5 hours, which legend says will bless them with wealth and recognition if done three times consecutively in a year. And a few walk from the town of Kyaiktiyo, about 7 hours. A number of hermits (dressed in brown robes) walk the long road up to the site too.

The great boulder is covered in gold leaf applied by pilgrims and topped by a small stupa. It’s an amazing natural phenomena that must have been regarded as highly sacred in the pre-Buddhist Nat religion (and in fact there are numerous Nat references at the site complex). The main legend associated with the rock is that the Buddha gave a strand of his hair to Taik Tha, a hermit, who in turn gave the strand to the King with the wish that the hair be enshrined in a boulder shaped like the hermit’s head. The King had supernatural powers from his father, an alchemist, and his mother, a serpent dragon princess. They found the rock at the bottom of the sea and brought it by magic boat to Mt. Kyaiktiyo where the strand was enshrined. The name Kyaik-htiyo means “Pagoda on a Hermit’s Head.” It’s interesting to note that the Golden Rock follows the pattern of how ancient cultures not only worshiped rocks for their powers but gave them human attributes.

According to a secondary legend, illustrated within one of the rooms at the site, the rock actually hovers in the air. Originally there was enough space for a chicken to walk underneath it. Then it sunk and only a partridge could walk under it, and then only a sparrow, and today the space is still there although we can’t see it (except for one small “hole” that we can).

The Golden Rock itself and the devotion it inspires is truly impressive, but the overall atmosphere was more like a theme park than a sacred site when I visited. There were hordes of people, and on the second day a huge flood of them arrived starting at 5AM (with loudspeakers). Families were camped out everywhere, kids were playing, the grounds were getting trashed, it was getting harder to photograph (and women aren’t allowed in two key spots), and I was getting very tired. I was also sick with a cold, slow moving and thinking, and pretty much annoyed by everything and everyone the whole time. However, as I was leaving and walking back down the road to catch the truck, hoping that I made at least one decent image of the rock, a sight on the road literally stopped me in my tracks and shifted my perspective: a young man deformed from the waist down was walking on all fours up the hill. He had skinny, crooked legs that he moved forward with his hands, one at a time. It was a miracle that those legs even worked at all. He carried nothing but a small basket strapped to his side for donations. It probably took him all day to reach the top. And on his face there wasn’t a trace of sadness or pain, only radiance and joy. We had a sweet little exchange and I could barely hold back my amazement, happiness and tears. Now that was a memorable experience, and that’s the true spirit of these places. The sites and symbols themselves are usually lovely, but it’s not about the photographs and documentary films we make of them, or the picnics and sleep overs we have beside them, or the hotels and souvenir hawkers that profit from them. It’s the depths of the affirmation of life that they inspire in us, and that was right there with this young man, like a brilliant light. No need to photograph him. It’s beyond pictures and my ability to describe very well. But that’s the real story for me at Mt. Kyaiktiyo.

The turban is wool in orange or red plaid, and sometimes a terry cloth towel is worn as a turban. According to Pa-O legend, once upon a time the dragon mother laid three eggs: the first gave birth to the Karen people, the second to the Pa-O people, and the third to the Karenni and Padaung. Out of respect to this legend, the Pa-O women style their turban like a dragon’s head. Anthropologists believe the Pa-O are descendants of Tibeto-Burmese people who arrived in Burma’s southern Mon state around 1,000 BC. Apparently they used to wear colorful clothing, but after they were conquered and enslaved by King Anawratha, they were forced to wear indigo-dyed clothes, which the women continue to wear today.

Aside from the clothing, just about everyone here wears thong sandals and many Pa-O wear a green canvas ankle boot that looks like a throwback to Red China. Almost everyone carries the Shan handbag too. Made of striped wool or thick cotton, the traditional handbag is red in color and sometimes embroidered with writings that say things like “I love you”, “I am Pa-O” and “Shan state.” Most Pa-O women wear gold earrings, usually hoops or dangling little bags of gold, and the younger women like to wear red lipstick, which creates a striking contrast with the whitish thanaka paste that most Burmese wear on their faces in various creative designs to protect themselves from the sun and enhance their beauty. (Made from the dried powder of the thanaka tree, this paste has been worn by the Burmese for over 2,000 years.)

I’m definitely into the Pa-O style and had the pleasure of being dressed up by them one day, complete with thanaka, although I didn’t look half as good as they do! Go-Go Pa-O!!!