Narinjara News
Two New Year
celebrations in one Year
Maungdaw, May 21: The Military
Junta staged the second Arakanese Thygran
Festival (New Year) in Maung Daw, from 13th to the 17th of May.
The New Year celebration was already finished on the 17th of
April, it started from the 13th. Having a second celebration is against the Arakanese tradition. The locals of Maung Daw were surprised
to see the water festival again, which is part of the New Year celebration,
just a month after the real event.
A local says: “It is said that Aloo
Daw Pyae (Wish Fulfilling) Sayadaw
Venerable U Ariya Wantha
had a bad dream. Sayadaw is the Buddhist monk
worshipped by the Generals of the Junta. Interpretation of the dream revealed
that a great danger will dawn upon the SPDC during this year. To counter such
fate, the second New Year celebration was arranged as part of Yattara (mechanism of fate change).
The SPDC authority ordered the local communities to set up a
marquee each and the local population to participate in the Water Festival. A
Marquee was reimbursed with 50,000 kyats.
According to the Arakanese Calender, there are two Targu
months in some years. In these years, it is only during the first Targu month that a New Year Celebration occurs in Arakanese Tradition. The local Arakanese
communities are really concerned over these acts, which go against their
tradition.
Sayadaw Arya
Wantha is known as the personal monk of Junta’s Prime
Minister Khin Nyunt, and he is from Maung Daw. His paganistic
beliefs and rituals are common to central
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