Arakan residents want to visit shrines freely over Thingyan holiday

By DMG 08 Apr 2022

DMG Newsroom
8 April 2022, Minbya

Arakan State residents have said they want to be able to freely visit hilltop pagodas and temples during Myanmar’s imminent New Year festival, Thingyan, to practice religious activities at those sites, near some of which the military has maintained deployments, in some cases for years.

It is common for Buddhists in Myanmar to visit pagodas and other shrines over the Thingyan holiday as the country welcomes the New Year each April, in accordance with the lunar calendar.

It has been around three years since Arakanese Buddhists could visit some shrines before military troops were deployed at those sites. Local residents want to renovate Buddha statues and religious buildings damaged in clashes.

Myanmar’s military has deployed troops in the compound of the historical ‘31 Realms of Existence’ Pagoda in Buthidaung Township for two years. Local residents want to visit the pagoda during this year’s Thingyan, which falls from April 13-17, said U Nayaka, the abbot of Shwe Kyin Monastery.

“Soldiers are also deployed at Sango Taung village at the foot of the hilltop pagoda. People are not allowed to pass. We haven’t been able to visit the pagoda since the fighting,” said U Nayaka.

The matter was brought to the attention of the state parliament in 2020, but to no avail. Local residents have also repeatedly raised the issue with the state government, but the requests have fallen on deaf ears, said the abbot.

Local people have been unable to visit Thin Kyit Taw Pagoda in Mrauk-U since 2019. “We want to visit the pagoda on the hill and keep the Sabbath and do good deeds during Thingyan. We can get inner peace there,” said U Tha Tun Hla, from Pyauk Taw Pyin village in Mrauk-U.

Myanmar’s military has deployed troops at a number of historical hilltop pagodas in Kyauktaw, Mrauk-U and Minbya townships, according to locals.

Kyein Taung Pagoda in Minbya will be open to the public from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. during Thingyan, and pilgrims are required to climb the hill on foot, said former Minbya lawmaker U Hla Aung Thein.

“We want them [the military] to allow people who keep Sabbath to stay overnight at the pagoda. They can register the pilgrims if they are concerned about security. Those who will keep Sabbath are mostly elderly persons and it is not convenient for them to walk up and down the hill,” he said.

As Arakan State has restored a certain sense of normalcy, Myanmar’s military should withdraw its troops from heritage buildings, U Hla Aung Thein said. DMG was unable to obtain comment from the Arakan State security and border affairs minister, Colonel Kyaw Thura, and state military council spokesman U Hla Thein, regarding troop deployments at local pagodas.

Myanmar’s military and the Arakan Army have observed an unofficial ceasefire since November 2020, though tensions between the two sides have risen in recent months.