Taungpyone Nat or Spirit Festival is a popular five day festival held in Taungpyone near Mandalay. According to tradition, Nats are spirits that must be appeased or they will wreak havoc in peoples' lives. The two Nat Brothers honored during Taungpyone Nat belong to the 37 well-known Myanmar Nats.
The story of the two Nat Brothers originated during the rule of King Anawrahta, when it was the duty of every person in the Kingdom to contribute a brick and a handful of sand for the construction of a Pagoda. The brothers failed to contribute their share and orders came from the King for them to be mildly punished. Unfortunately, the Nat Brothers were accidentally killed.
The King was remorseful and built a big Nat (spirit) shrine by the side of the Pagoda honoring the two brothers. The homage-paying festival is now held annually to appease the spirits as it is believed that the Nat Brothers can fulfill your wishes, protect you from ill-fate and danger, and bring good luck, prosperity and progress.
Yadanagu Pagoda / Nat Festival (Yadanagu Village, Amarapura)
It is one of much gloriest and distinguish spirit festival occurs annually on August, just one week after the end of Taungbyone spirit festival. The festival is held annually in honour of Popa-Medaw (Mother of Mt. Popa).
One might see the Kinship between nats and humans. Some group of people could be seen holding a ceremony to propitiate nats everywhere around Yadanagu area. Some are dancing as if he is possessed by a nat. The music playing in this ceremony could stimulate the people more than any other types of music and hence everybody wants to get into the ceremony.
| August 7 |
Pottery Hiding day |
| August 9 to 14 |
Taung-byone ceremony |
| August 14 |
Gold Pot Burying Day |
| August 24 to 28 |
Yadana-gu Ceremony |
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