Narinjara News
SPDC Culture Minister's visit to ancient pagodas of Arakan leaves local astrologers worried
Akyab, Dec 21: Maj-Gen
Kyi Aung, the Culture Minister of the military government recently made an
astonishing visit to Arakan State, where he inspected
a number of renovated ancient pagodas built by Arakanese
kings in several of Arakan's past dynasties.
It was a rare occurance for a
Burmese minister to visit so many sites of the Arakanese
ancient pagodas.
"The recent visit of the Culture Minister was really
astonishing for the Arakan people because he went to
a number of ancient pagodas. Previously, no Burmese ministers have ever been
there," said a local monk.
On December 12 and 13 he visited the Kaung-
Hmudaw Pagoda, built by King Minbar
in Ponnagyun Township and the excavation site of the
ancient city of Danyawady, which is near the Mah Muni Buddha Image, that
existed between BC 3325 and AD 325, in the Kyauk Taw
Township.
He also visited the Laungkyettaung
Mawshwekyetpha Pagoda, Koethaung
Stupa, Phayaoak Pagoda and Mingaung Shwetu Pagoda, Cheinkaik Tri-Pitaka Chamber, Andaw Ordination Hall and Laymyethna
Pagoda in Mrauk Oo Township, the last city of the Arakan dynasty.
Lastly, he also visited the renovation of Mould Nos 1, 2 and 5 of the ancient city of
On December 14, the Minister inspected the
"The Minister's visit to Arakan
may indicate that the SPDC military government has a plan to soon renovate Arakanese ancient pagodas and it is not seen to be just
talk, as in previous times," said a local monk.
Arakanese astrologers worry,
however, about the renovation of these ancient pagodas because in the past the
SPDC has substituted Burmese architecture into the ancient Arakanese
style pagodas and stupas.
The monk said that "All Arakanese
were angered when the SPDC's
renovation of Shithound Pagoda, or Ran Aungzaya, one of largest pagodas in Arakan,
modernized it to look like a Burmese style pagoda with the Semen. Inside the
pagodas there had been 80,000 old Buddha images. The pagoda was built by King Mibar in the 15th century after the
conquer of
He said, "Burmese and Arakanese
architecture is very different. They should renovate the pagodas by Arakanese architectural standards."
He compared Buddha's image in Burmese culture where the
Buddha statue's ear touch his shoulder, where as an Arakanese
made Buddha statue's ears do not touch. There are many cultural differences
between the Arakanese and Burmese styles because
Arakan is a land rich in it's
heritage, where there are over 5 million ancient images of Buddha and pagodas,
most of which have been damaged and deteriorating for a long time, without any
renovations or restorations.
A local resident of Mrauk Oo said
in the past, the SPDC was not willing to renovate ancient Arakanese
pagodas but now their mind is changing and their attention has turned to the
ancient Arakanese pagodas, similar to what they did
with Pagan.
He did not remark on the reasons behind the SPDC's willingness to renovate the Arakan
pagodas.#
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