EVERY year on the full moon day of Waso, which marks the end of Buddhist Lent, Buddhists nationwide do many merit-gaining activities such as visiting pagodas and monasteries or releasing animals back into the wild.

But at the Kyaung Taw Yar Pagoda, in Lei-kine township, Magwe Division, residents know that the day has another purpose – to go and feed the giant catfish, some as long as 5 feet (1.5 metres) that travel down to the river’s edge to listen to Buddhist scripture. At least, that’s how local legend has it.

U Win Mg, chairman of the pagoda’s board of trustees, said visiting the pagoda at the end of Waso is a tradition that stretches back centuries.

“This tradition has existed for an extremely long time, some say since the time of the Buddha, Gautama.

“During this period of Buddhist lent, this pagoda is alive with people who come here to see the giant fish. I think there are more of the fish this year than last too, I’d say about 80 have been seen,” he said.

“The most crowded day is the full moon day of Wah-khaung and we usually have about 20,000 or 30,000 visitors.

“This year, the number of daily visitors is less but visitors on the full moon day of Wah- khaung is higher than last year,” he said.

In the 1960s, hundreds of the fish would regularly come to Kyaung Taw Yar. And people could even touch and feed them like pets but after 2000, their numbers have dropped off. Worse yet, they seem uninterested in coming to the surface to eat, which makes it more difficult to record their numbers.

Ko Nyi Nyi Maung recalled that the fish, which many people call “pilgrim fish”, were once plentiful.

“When I was much younger I went to Buu-Thel village’s feeding port. People fed the catfish by going down into the water and pouring food into the fish’s mouths with bowls.

“And there were some fish that were entirely white, it was so strange,” he said.
Residents said that since 1993, the giant fish have not stayed around pagoda until the full moon day of Thadingyut. Instead they leave after the full moon day of Tawthalin.

They say they are afraid that the tradition of feeding the giant fish will vanish within two or three years because of the shrinking population.

“It’s like winning the lottery now when you see a fish. They can be seen mostly from 5 to 7am but not every day,” said one resident of Pwint Phyu township.

However the pagoda’s trustee board is not taking the dwindling fish stocks lightly and since last year has cooperated with the Fishery Department in Pwint Phyu to stop people from catching the fish.

U Thet Aung, the vice township officer of the Department of Fisheries said:

“Before the fish come, we announce to the fishermen along the Mone Creek not to catch any fish. And we send boats up and down the river to ensure fishermen know of the ban. It’s rare to hear of someone catching the fish now,” he said.