The road to Alaungdaw Kathapa National Park is fraught with obstacles, including water crossings. Pic: Cherry Thein

MYANMAR is well known as the land of pagodas and legends. Wherever the eye can see there are golden hti and whitewashed pagodas on the hills and mountains.

One of the most revered sacred sites in the country is Alaungdaw Kathapa – literally, that which sustains and purifies the sasana (message of the Buddha) and where the dispensation, doctrine and legacy of the Buddha are expounded. The pagoda is located in Sagaing Division, more than 800 miles from Yangon.

The story goes that there were three brothers who shed their worldly wealth and took the noble path that led to the monkhood. They lived separately but met occasionally to discuss doctrine. The eldest brother was Gautama Buddha; the second, who lived in Myanmar, was Kathapa; and the youngest was Ahreinmataya.

Ahreinmataya had predicted that the eldest brother would become a Buddha named Gautama. He also predicted that after Gautama Buddha’s era had ended, the next Buddha would be named after himself, Ahreinmataya.

Meanwhile, Ashin Maha Kathapa, as the second brother was later named by Buddhists, became a trusted disciple of Gautama Buddha and was instrumental in convening the First Buddhist Synod.

But he also committed some bad deeds during his lifetime and paid for them by being laid to rest in a cave in the region now encompassed by Alaungdaw Kathapa National Park, his body undecayed and resistant to cremation.

According to legend, Ashin Maha Kathapa’s remains are still preserved in the cave, and they will stay that way until the era of Buddha Ahreinmataya, who is the only one able to cremate his body.

Buddhists say that the body rests on a couch decorated with priceless jewels offered many years ago by King Asarthasa, a devotee of the Buddha.

The site attracted pilgrims who wanted to offer their prayers to the Buddha. But over the years the prayers at the cave became increasingly greedy, causing the entrance to seal up and block people from entering the chamber where the body rests.

Pilgrims continue to visit the cave but must now be content with praying outside and putting gold leaf on the stones blocking the cave.

The long road to Alaungdaw Kathapa from Monywa can be rigorous, its difficulty an attraction for devotees who feel that the harder and riskier the trip, the more worthy the pilgrimage.

Access to the park can be difficult, if not impossible, during the monsoon, so the main visiting season is generally from October to April, culminating in two pagoda festivals in February (full moon day of Tabodwe) and March (full moon day of Tabaung).

The Venerable Thu Manna, 72, who has been serving as overseer of the cave pagoda for more than 10 years, said that together the two festivals now attract more than 200,000 pilgrims a year.

“When I first came here it was much harder to get to the pagoda. There were no rest houses, no roads, not even a pathway to get down the cliff where the pagoda is located,” he said.

“Now we have improved access to the park for pilgrims and there are 40 rest houses, as well as three monasteries where monks can stay and take care of the pagoda during the off-season,” said U Tun Shwe, 69, a member of the pagoda’s board of the trustees.

There is even a steep, zigzagging stairway down the cliff to the cave.
“It was very hard for us in the early years to arrange the festivals. We had to celebrate the opening ceremonies with only a few monks. I can even remember collecting leaves to use as plates to offer alms food to the monks,” U Tun Shwe said.

He said road repairs and rest house construction in Alaungdaw Kathapa National Park were carried out by foresters employed by the Ministry of Forestry, with help from monks staying in the park.

“We have to repair the roads leading to the park every year starting in October because there are so many landslides during rainy season and we have to clear the way again,” he said. “It’s very dangerous to work in the forest, and elephants are very useful in helping us get our jobs done.”

“Aside from repairing the roads, every year we have to clear plants from the 40 acres of ground where the rest houses, shops and monasteries are located. The foresters also help us a lot with this,” he said.