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On auspicious days, women queue with offerings for the temple Amazing how they do this.....brisk walking with these elaborate gifts on their heads! |
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| Children making a beeline for the temple, but with lesser gifts... |
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This is where donations, of all shapes and colours, end up
Religious festivals often involve parading trucks
filled with colourful offerings  
Procession to celebrate an auspicious day, perhaps a pagoda festival
One interesting event which we witnessed was the Elephant Dance Festival. Elephants are part of Myanmar's history and culture and played a key role in the teak industry. The Elephant Dance Festival is a religious and cultural event held every October to pay homage to the elephant.
Life-size elephant effigy made of bamboo and cloth, colourfully decorated
Two men inside the cloth elephant perform to the accompaniment of classical music
Villages compete for the honour of being the team to perform at the local temple
 Junior versions of the Elephant Dance are less grand productions of plain plastic
with teams of boys performing for fun and to collect donations
Two kids taking a break after a hectic performance
The Festival of Lights, held in November, is the second most important event in the Burmese calendar after the Thingyan Festival or Buddhist New Year. Sky lanterns are released to celebrate the full moon day as an offering to the heavens or to ward off evil spirits. The most famous one is held in Taungyi, central Myanmar. 
Preparing the huge frame for the hot air sky lantern  Lighting the candles that will generate the hot air to lift the sky lantern
Intricately designed sky lanterns slowly rising into the night sky
It's holiday time, with fun things like ferris wheel
 and merry-go-round, both operated by man-power!
stalls with hot food
game of chance
Even a giant puppet
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