A shrine perched on an extinct volcano in Myanmar’s Mandalay region, once thronged with the bustle of pilgrims praying to flower-eating spirit Popa Maedaw, has been cut off from the faithful following the civil war.
Now, the prayers have fallen silent at the Taung Kalat shrine, the plains around it a battle zone and the faithful mostly blocked from access by fighting and checkpoints manned by all sides in the conflict.
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Myanmar has been in turmoil since 2021, when the military ousted Aung San Suu Kyi’s government, ending a 10-year experiment with democracy and sparking nationwide protests. The junta’s crackdown on dissent sparked renewed fighting with ethnic minority armed groups in the borderlands and sent thousands to join newer People’s Defence Forces (PDF) formed to battle the military. “There are not many young people here anymore,” said one shop owner on the road that winds up through thick forest to the summit of Mount Popa, the extinct volcano. “They have gone to join the PDF.”
The Taung Kalat shrine honours Popa Maedaw, one of dozens of nats, or guardian spirits, that exist alongside Buddhism in Myanmar.
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The plains surrounding Mount Popa are home to the Bamar ethnic majority and were largely untouched by decades of previous conflict between the military and minority armed groups in the remote jungles and hills. Now the region of rolling fields of sesame, pulses and beans — studded with the golden spires of Buddhist pagodas — is a battle zone.
