Also see: our photography tour to Myanmar in October.
Inle Lake is a world built on water. Located on the lake are several villages on stilts standing tall above the water. Life here revolves within the lake’s waters: their markets are floating, their vegetable gardens are on the water and their livelihood largely depends on fish. While rest of the world is used to driving on the roads, people of here take a boat if they need to reach the market or a neighbouring village. This is everyday life for the people of Inle Lake, but obviously an interesting world for visitors.
The procession of the Buddhas on Inle Lake at the Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda Festival.
When everything has to happen on the water, the same has to apply for festivals in the lake area as well. Once a year, all the villages on the lake get together to celebrate Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda Festival. The center of the festival is a Pagoda on the waters of Inle Lake, which is known for its gilded images of five Buddhas. During the eighteen day festival, four of these Buddha images are removed from the pagoda and taken on a procession through the villages in and around the lake. The procession is witnessed by large number of people from nearby villages. Here is a collection of images from the festival, made during our photography tour to Myanmar.
People from nearby villages arriving to witness the procession. Very few tourists make it to the festival procession.
The procession is lead by several long boats, each rowed by nearly a hundred boat men. Usually, each boat is represented by a village in Inle Lake area.
Decorating the boats is an important aspect of the festivities
The boat carrying the golden Buddhas
Villagers follow the procession in their boats.
Also see: our photography tour to Myanmar in October.