Pilgrims unable to visit Kyein Taung Pagoda in Minbya Twsp

By DMG 01 Apr 2021

DMG Newsroom
1 April 2021, Minbya

Locals want pilgrims to visit the historical Kyein Taung Pagoda in Minbya Township, Arakan State, without the site also being used to host Tatmadaw troops.

In January, civil society groups and locals in Minbya town, including the Kyein Taung Pagoda Board of Trustees, wrote a letter to the local government asking them not to temporarily host security personnel on the hill.

U Wai Hla Maung, a member of the Kyein Taung Pagoda Board of Trustees, said: “Due to security concerns, the Tatmadaw says it is not yet possible for pilgrims to visit the pagoda. Our Board of Trustees has not been able to climb that mountain yet.”

Kyein Taung Pagoda is located at a height of 410 feet.

Fighting between the Tatmadaw and Arakan Army in Arakan State has not taken place for more than four months, and locals from townships other than Minbya have been forced to turn around because they were not allowed to climb Kyein Taung Pagoda.

“Pilgrims are allowed to climb to 2,500 Pagoda,” said Ko Nay Nyein Chan, a resident of Minbya town, referring to a pagoda sited lower than Kyein Taung Pagoda, at a height of more than 300 feet. “I would like to ask local authorities to allow pilgrims to visit Kyein Taung Pagoda.”

U Thakin Cho, chairman of the Minbya Township Administration Council, said that although fighting between the Tatmadaw and the AA had stopped in Arakan State, pilgrims were still not allowed to visit Kyein Taung Pagoda due to security concerns.

He said the Minbya Township Administration Council has submitted a request to the state government so that pilgrims can visit the pagoda.

According to locals, Tatmadaw troops have been stationed at Kyein Taung Pagoda Hill for about two years, since early 2019.