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 ...

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 (Burma) and Thailand.

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 15 ...

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 ...

(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, which occurred two centuries later, following the fall of Ayutthaya in the

Burmese–Siamese War (1765–1767) The Burmese–Siamese War (1765–1767) ( my, ယိုးဒယား-မြန်မာစစ် (၁၇၆၅–၁၇၆၇); th, สงครามคราวเสียกรุงศรีอยุธยาครั้งที่ส� ...

. 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, Pyinma ...

, Burmese devotees in Upper Myanmar 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.

Mandalay Mandalay ( or ; ) is the second-largest city in Myanmar, after Yangon. Located on the east bank of the Irrawaddy River, 631km (392 miles) (Road Distance) north of Yangon, the city has a population of 1,225,553 (2014 census). Mandalay was fou ...

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 spir ...

, 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'' 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 g ...

'' 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 and ...

. 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.

References

{{Religion in Myanmar Pagodas in Myanmar

History

Regional celebrations

Myanmar

Thailand

See also

References