Pagoda Festival at the Hill Village

Kalaw is a hill town in the Shan state of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Kalw is very famous for its cool weather and as the best destination to do trekking in Myanmar. I visit to Kalaw very often to do trekking in my holiday and to capture and documents the life of some ethnic tribes who are residing in the region. An ethnic tribes called Palung peole live in Kalaw and nearby villages. In Kalaw, some villages are called Palung villages where majoirty are Palung people and some hills along the Kalaw region are also called as Palaung villages. Palung people are so proud of theri culture and old Palungs always wear their traditional dress. Almost all Palung people are Buddhists. Young Palung boys always go for novic and big monisteries and pagodas can be seen in every Palaung village.

When I visited to Kalaw last March, I had an opportunity to witness a pagoda festival in a Palung village. My guide and her brother took me to the pago festival where I was able to see some traditions which we cannot much see in the low lands of the country. Paung people like the festival a lot. As a hilly region, the transportation from a place to anoter is quite difficult. But all the people; the olds, men, women, boys, girls and children and even little novice monks came to the festival to enjoy. Most of them came to the festival on foot by walking along the hilly villages. Some of the come in a friend group and some come with their family. One thing really intersting for me is that seeing some of the gambling games which we don't have in our urban cities' festivals. Men, women, children and even monks paly in those games in the festival. It's a five day long festival and those hill peole cannot have much festivals very often so they enjoy those days with all their energy and spirit.

We can see the some of the interesting and unique clutures in Myanmar through a Palung hill pagoda festival.