Taw Lawi : Many Mon from Moulmein and surrounding townships expressed hesitance at participating in the yearly Full Moon Day Lantern Festival celebration at the Kyaik-than-lan and Kyaik-thok Pagodas in Mon State this Sunday, November 21st.
A general store owner in Zay Joe quarter, Moulmein Town, explained that residents of Moulmein town and the surrounding areas are frightened because of the recent fighting between the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) and the Burmese soldiers at Myawaddy and Three Pagodas Pass Townships Karen State, Thai-Burma border.
“Also, the people are dissatisfied with the election results and the actions of the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP). Because of this, they are less willing to give donations [to the monks and the temple],” this store owner explained.
Every year special performers are hired to perform at these two pagodas, but “it is still uncertain whether they will receive permission or not because of security reasons. They [authorities] are afraid of crowds,” explained one member of a donation association. The festival this year may only include “the communal offering of provisions and various articles to monks.”
One resident living in Kyaik-thok said that residents from Moulmein and the surrounding areas travel to Moulmein for the performances at the Dazauntaing festival. Less people will travel, this resident said, if there are no special performances.
A Kawnat villager from Moulmein Township surmised that “people won’t come to the festival because of their dissatisfaction with the pre-votes and subsequent loss of ballots by the All Mon Regions Democracy Party (AMDP).” Whereas a member of a food donation organization in Maungnan ward, Moulmein town, explained, “there will be less donations because of living and commodity increases due to political jumbling.”
“Festivals occur throughout Mon State from the full moon of Thadingyut [after the end of Buddhist Lent on October 23rd ] until the full moon of Dazaundaing [this Sunday, the 21st of November]. People didn’t dare come out to Kamawet festival and Nyang Gone village festival in Mudon Township, giving security concerns as a reason,” said a male villager from Nyaung Gone village.
“Kyaik-than-lan Pagoda Festival is the last festival of Dazaundaing. Farmers will then go harvest their fields, but they worry about safety at the festival this year,” explained a Kyaikmayaw-Moulmein transportation service driver.
The first festival in Mon State is at Kyaikkami Yele Pagoda and celebrations last until Dazaundaing full moon day at Kyaik-than-lan and Kyaik-thok Pagodas in Moulmein Town.
