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Religion & Belief
Faith and superstition go hand in hand in Myanmar. About 89% of the
people of Myanmar are Buddhist, but many also pay heed to ancient
animist beliefs in natural spirits or nats. Locals are proud of their beliefs
and keen to discuss them. Knowing something about Buddhism in par-
ticular will help you better understand life in the country.
Freedom of religion is guaranteed under the country’s constitution.
However Buddhism is given special status. Myanmar’s ethnic patchwork
of people also embraces a variety of other faiths, among which Islam and
Christianity are the most popular.Buddhism
The Mon were the fi rst people in Myanmar to practise Theravada (mean-
ing Doctrine of the Elders)Buddhism, the oldest and most conservative
form of the religion. King Asoka, the great Indian emperor, is known to
have sent missions here (known then as the ‘Golden Land’) during the
3rd century BC. A second wave is thought to have arrived via Sinhalese
missionaries between the 6 th and 10th centuries.
By the 9th century the Pyu of northern Myanmar were combining
Theravada with elements of Mahayana (Great Vehicle) and Tantric Bud-
dhism brought from their homelands in the Tibetan Plateau. During the
early Bagan era (11th century), Bamar king Anawrahta decided that the
Buddhism practised in his realm should be ‘purifi ed’ from all non-Ther-
avada elements. It never completely shed Tantric, Hindu and animist
elements, but remains predominately Theravada.When Myanmar
locals go on
holiday its often
in the form of a
pilgrimage. Ma
Thanegi de-
scribes one such
trip in The Native
Tourist: In Search
of Turtle Eggs.RELIGIOUS CONFLICTSFriction between religious groups in Myanmar is not uncommon. In February 2001, riots
between Buddhists and Muslims broke out in Sittwe, followed a few months later by
ones in Taungoo that, according to Human Rights Watch, resulted in nine Muslim deaths
including three children, the destruction of 60 homes and looting of Muslim-owned
shops.
As David Steinberg notes in Burma/Myanmar: What Everyone Needs to Know, these
riots are ‘usually based on some perceived insult by a Muslim to Buddhism or to a Bur-
mese woman’. There is also the ongoing problem of the government’s non-recognition of
the Muslim Rohingya minority, which is very controversial among most locals in Rakha-
ing State (see p 277 ).
Relations between each of the religions hasn’t been helped by the fact that within
government Buddhists tend to attain higher rank more easily than non-Buddhists.
There has also been a programme of building pagodas in border regions including the
Christian area of Kachin State bordering China and the Muslim areas of Rakhaing State
bordering Bangladesh.
For information on violations to religious freedom in Myanmar, read the 2006 US
State Department report at http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2006/71335.htm.All religious
groups are barred
from engaging in
political activities
and accepting
funds from
foreign sources.