![2016 Songkran-temple-sand IMG 4320](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/91/2016_Songkran-temple-sand_IMG_4320.jpg)
Sand pagodas ( my, သဲပုံစေတီ; th, พระเจดีย์ทราย, also known as sand stupas), are temporary
pagodas
A pagoda is an Asian tiered tower with multiple eaves common to Nepal, India, China, Japan, Korea, Myanmar, Vietnam, and other parts of Asia. Most pagodas were built to have a religious function, most often Buddhist but sometimes Taoist, ...
or
stupas
A stupa ( sa, स्तूप, lit=heap, ) is a mound-like or hemispherical structure containing relics (such as ''śarīra'' – typically the remains of Buddhist monks or nuns) that is used as a place of meditation.
In Buddhism, circumamb ...
erected from mud or sand as a means of cultivating
Buddhist merit. The practice is common to
Theravada Buddhists throughout mainland Southeast Asia, primarily in
Myanmar
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
(Burma) and
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...
.
History
The earliest extant reference to the sand pagoda building tradition is in Burmese literary works, namely a
''pyo'' verse poem composed by
Shin Maha Silavamsa
Shin Mahāsīlavaṃsa ( my, ရှင်မဟာ သီလဝံသ, variously transcribed Shin Maha Silavamsa, Shin Maha Thilawuntha or Rhaṅʻ Mahāsīlavaṃsa) was a Theravadan Buddhist monk and a classical Burmese poet who lived in 15t ...
during the
Kingdom of Ava
The Kingdom of Ava ( my, အင်းဝခေတ်, ) was the dominant kingdom that ruled upper Burma (Myanmar) from 1364 to 1555. Founded in 1365, the kingdom was the successor state to the petty kingdoms of Myinsaing, Pinya and Sagaing t ...
(c. 1500s).
By contrast, Burmese oral tradition attributes the custom of building sand pagodas to the arrival of Ayutthayan royals, advisors and their retinue in the
Konbaung Kingdom
The Konbaung dynasty ( my, ကုန်းဘောင်ခေတ်, ), also known as Third Burmese Empire (တတိယမြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော်) and formerly known as the Alompra dynasty (အလောင်းဘ ...
, which occurred two centuries later, following the fall of
Ayutthaya Ayutthaya, Ayudhya, or Ayuthia may refer to:
* Ayutthaya Kingdom, a Thai kingdom that existed from 1350 to 1767
** Ayutthaya Historical Park, the ruins of the old capital city of the Ayutthaya Kingdom
* Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya province (locally ...
in the
Burmese–Siamese War (1765–1767).
The custom was practiced throughout the kingdom in pre-colonial Burma, including by the royal court.
Regional celebrations
Myanmar
During
Māgha Pūjā
Māgha Pūjā (also written as Makha Bucha Day) is the second most important Buddhist festival after Vesak, celebrated on the full moon day of the third lunar month in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Sri Lanka and on the full moon day of Tabaung in ...
, known as the Full Moon Day of
Tabaung
Tabaung ( my, တပေါင်း) is the twelfth and final month of the traditional Burmese calendar.
Festivals and observances
*Tabaung Festival (Magha Puja) - full moon of Tabaung
* Sand Pagoda Festival ()
*28 Pagoda Parade Festival, Pyinman ...
, Burmese devotees in
Upper Myanmar
Upper Myanmar ( my, အထက်မြန်မာပြည်, also called Upper Burma) is a geographic region of Myanmar, traditionally encompassing Mandalay and its periphery (modern Mandalay, Sagaing, Magway Regions), or more broadly speak ...
construct sand pagodas in honor of the Buddha. The festivities are collectively called sand pagoda festivals (သဲပုံစေတီပွဲ). The
Rakhine people also build sand pagodas during this season, in a festival called ''Shaikthaunghmyauk'' festival (သျှစ်သောင်းမြှောက်ပွဲ), held on the seabanks of cities like
Sittwe
Sittwe (; ; formerly Akyab) is the capital of Rakhine State, Myanmar (Burma). Sittwe, pronounced ''sait-tway'' in the Rakhine language, is located on an estuarial island created at the confluence of the Kaladan, Mayu, and Lay Mro rivers empt ...
.
Mandalay holds two major sand pagoda festivals, at the Mont Tisu and Maha Walaku Pagodas.
Burmese sand pagodas are typically of graduated five tiers, tapering to the top, with each tier flanked by bamboo masts.
The five tiers represent five layers of
Mount Meru
Mount Meru (Sanskrit/Pali: मेरु), also known as Sumeru, Sineru or Mahāmeru, is the sacred five-peaked mountain of Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist cosmology and is considered to be the centre of all the physical, metaphysical and spiritu ...
, the legendary peak of Buddhist cosmology.
Devotees offer fruits, flowers and other offerings, and circumambulate the sand pagoda thrice before
paying homage.
On the full moon day of Tabaung, the sand pagoda's umbrella crown or ''
hti HTI may refer to:
* Hti, the finial ornament placed on pagodas and temples in Myanmar
* HTI+, a former technician certification from CompTIA
* Great Barrier Reef Airport, on Hamilton Island, Queensland, Australia
* Haiti, a country in the Caribbe ...
'' is removed.
In 1961, Burmese president
U Nu
Nu ( my, ဦးနု; ; 25 May 1907 – 14 February 1995), commonly known as U Nu also known by the honorific name Thakin Nu, was a leading Burmese statesman and nationalist politician. He was the first Prime Minister of Burma under the pr ...
performed a ''
yadaya
Yadaya ( my, ယတြာ, ; from Sanskrit ; variously spelt yadayar and yedaya) refers to magical rituals done to delay, neutralize or prevent misfortune, widely practiced in Myanmar (Burma). These rituals, which originate from Brahmanism, are gu ...
'' ritual to avert disaster in the country, by ordering the construction of 70,000 sand pagodas.
Thailand
In Northern Thailand, sand pagodas are constructed during
Songkran
Songkran is a term derived from the Sanskrit word, ' (or, more specifically, ') and used to refer to the traditional New Year celebrated in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, parts of northeast India, parts of Vietnam an ...
. The largest such festival in Chiang Mai is held at Wat Chetlin; the resulting pagoda has five tiers, stands about tall, and uses of sand.
See also
*
Buddhism in Burma
Buddhism ( my, ဗုဒ္ဓဘာသာ), specifically Theravāda Buddhism ( my, ထေရဝါဒဗုဒ္ဓဘာသာ), is the State religion of Myanmar since 1961, and practiced by nearly 90% of the population. It is the most rel ...
*
Burmese pagoda
Burmese pagodas are stupas that typically house Buddhist relics, including relics associated with Buddha. Pagodas feature prominently in Myanmar's landscape, earning the country the moniker "land of pagodas." According to 2016 statistics compil ...
*
Cetiya
upright=1.25, Phra Pathom Chedi, one of the biggest Chedis in Thailand; in Thai, the term Chedi (cetiya) is used interchangeably with the term Stupa
Cetiya, "reminders" or "memorials" (Sanskrit ''caitya''), are objects and places used by Buddhi ...
*
Māgha Pūjā
Māgha Pūjā (also written as Makha Bucha Day) is the second most important Buddhist festival after Vesak, celebrated on the full moon day of the third lunar month in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Sri Lanka and on the full moon day of Tabaung in ...
*
Pagoda festival
Pagoda festivals ( my, ဘုရားပွဲ; ''paya pwe'') are regular festivals found throughout Burma (Myanmar) that commemorate major religious events in pagoda's history, including the founding of a pagoda and the crowning of the pagoda's ...
*
Stupa
*
Vessantara Festival
References
{{Religion in Myanmar
Pagodas in Myanmar