Tazaungdaing: Lights, Robes and a Sky Full of Balloons
On the full moon of Tazaungmon, Myanmar lights candles, weaves robes through the night, and sends a sky full of paper balloons up over the Shan hills.
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Photo: Scotted400 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)
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Festivals
In Myanmar, each month of the lunar calendar brings its own festival. Some are joyful and lively, others quiet and spiritual, but each carries traditions that have connected families and communities for generations.
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Kason Full Moon: Water for the Sacred Bodhi Tree
In the second month of Myanmar's lunar calendar comes one of the most important days for Buddhists in the country — marked not with fire hoses or fireworks, but a quiet pot of water poured at the roots of a tree.
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Thadingyut: A Festival of Light and Gratitude
On the full moon of Thadingyut, homes, streets and pagodas across Myanmar begin to glow — and families settle a quieter kind of business, kneeling before elders to give thanks and ask forgiveness.
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Thingyan: Welcoming the New Year with Water
Every April, as the hottest days of summer settle over Myanmar, the country welcomes the traditional New Year the way it has for centuries — by soaking everyone in sight.
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