Pyay Gallery of Photos

When we were in Pyay the Tazaungdaing Festival (Festival of Light) was gearing up more and more everyday while we were there. The town was centered on the festivities in and near the huge Shwe San Daw Pagoda in the center of town. We were caught up in the festivities as well and most of the photos I shot involved this religious festival, one of the most important of the year.

A double date at the most sacred place in Pyay and one of the most sacred temples in the country. The two more modern/western sit side by side while the more traditional couple are separated. I doubt any of them thought about this arrangement ahead of time, it is simply what is done. And then the boys talked to each other while the girls did the same. But they were together and there was interaction of sorts. There is a lot going on here under the watchful eyes of an enormous Buddha. At the Shwe San Daw Pagoda, Pyay.

The ice cream man waiting for business in front of a reclining Buddha.

A father holding back his daughter who would love to dive into a bunch of ice cream cones.

Lots and lots of pastry type foods were being made for the festival which required a lot of fires.

A Thanaka saleswoman. Thanaka is a small tree that is cut and ground on a stone to a powder. A little water is added to the powder and then applied to the body, mostly the face. It serves as a sunscreen but more importantly as a cosmetic.

The Burmese are very resourceful. Here they are recycling plastic strapping material. These baskets are super strong besides being very colorful.

Religious ornamentation is for sale in this store.

The sweepers at the Shwe San Daw take a break.

There are dozens and dozens of ethnic groups in Myanmar and each has their own design for skirts. For this big festival there were a lot of traveling salespeople with booths selling everything from knives to Thanaka logs to skirts. It's amazing that this is all a temporary setup and when this festival is over it's all packed into a truck and off to another festival. This booth was one of the largest we saw - and most colorful!

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