Myanmar55 Inle Lake Fishermen and Lotus Weavers

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Myanmar
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INLE LAKE
The village of Inn Paw Khon Lotus Weavers
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Inle Lake is a freshwater lake located in the
Shan Hills in Myanmar. It is the second largest
lake in Myanmar with an estimated surface area of
44.9 square miles (116 km2), and one of the
highest at an altitude of 2,900 feet (880 m).
During the dry season, the average water depth is
7 feet (2.1 m), with the deepest point being 12
feet (3.7 m), but during the rainy season this
can increase by 5 feet (1.5 m)
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Most transportation on the lake is traditionally
by small boats,
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or by somewhat larger boats fitted with single
cylinder inboard diesel engines.
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The population consists predominantly of Intha,
with a mix of other Shan, Taungyo, Pa-O
(Taungthu), Danu, Kayah, Danaw and Bamar
ethnicities. Most are devout Buddhists, and live
in simple houses of wood and woven bamboo on
stilts they are largely self-sufficient farmers
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Tourist boats at Inthein
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The people of Inle Lake (called Intha), some
70,000 of them, live in four cities bordering the
lake, in numerous small villages along the lake's
shores, and on the lake itself. The entire lake
area is in Nyaung Shwe township.
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Local fishermen are known for practicing a
distinctive rowing style which involves standing
at the stern on one leg and wrapping the other
leg around the oar
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This unique style evolved for the reason that the
lake is covered by reeds and floating plants
making it difficult to see above them while
sitting
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Standing provides the rower with a view beyond
the reeds
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However, the leg rowing style is only practiced
by the men. Women row in the customary style,
using the oar with their hands, sitting cross
legged at the stern
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In addition to fishing, locals grow vegetables
and fruit in large gardens that float on the
surface of the lake
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The floating garden beds are formed by extensive
manual labor. The farmers gather up lake-bottom
weeds from the deeper parts of the lake, bring
them back in boats and make them into floating
beds in their garden areas, anchored by bamboo
poles
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These gardens rise and fall with changes in the
water level, and so are resistant to flooding.
The constant availability of nutrient-laden water
results in these gardens being incredibly
fertile. Rice cultivation is also significant
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Hand-made goods for local use and trading are
another source of commerce. Typical products
include tools, carvings and other ornamental
objects, textiles, and cheroots
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The Inle lake area is renowned for its weaving
industry. The Shan-bags, used daily by many
Burmese as a tote-bag, are produced in large
quantities here.
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Silk-weaving is another very important industry,
producing high-quality hand-woven silk fabrics of
distinctive design called Inle longyi.
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A longyi is a sheet of cloth widely worn in
Burma. It is approximately 2 m long and 80 cm
wide. The cloth is often sewn into a cylindrical
shape.
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The longyi is worn around the waist, running to
the feet. It is held in place by folding fabric
over, without a knot. It is also sometimes folded
up to the knee for comfort
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The longyi certainly suits the climate in these
parts as it allows some air to circulate and
keeps cool in the hot sun. Silks are unique in
keeping warm in the winter as well as cool in the
summer
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Men who cannot read are like the blind women who
cannot weave are like the cripple an old Burmese
saying at a time when every household had a
handloom and the womenfolk wove all the longyis
for the family
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A unique fabric from the lotus plant fibers is
produced only at Inle lake and is used for
weaving special robes for Buddha images called
kya thingahn (lotus robe).
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There is only one place in the world where the
fibers of the lotus plant are woven into scarves
and shawls. It is a form of weaving that is
entirely unique to Myanmar (Burma) and
specifically to Inle Lake
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The lotus flower has always had a special place
in Myanmar as a Buddhist motif for purification
of the spirit,
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and indeed the people of Myanmar claim that
wearing the lotus thread makes you feel calm and
meditative, plus it has the power to relieve
heart and lung conditions.
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The origin of the lotus silk shawls goes back 100
years when a girl plucked a lotus flower from the
lake to offer at the Buddhist pagoda. It was then
that she noticed a trail of fiber from where she
had cut the stem
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Though lotus silk is considered extremely
luxurious and the rarest fiber in the world, the
lotus silk is still made for monks robes and is
also made into pieces for the public, hence the
shawls and scarves
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Lotus weaving caught on around Inle Lake, and the
creation and offering of lotus robes to eminent
Buddhist monks and pagoda statues became an act
of Buddhist devotion and merit-making. Every step
of the process is infused with spiritual
significance. The Guardian Spirit of the Lotus is
given ritual offerings before the stems are
plucked. The handloom is consecrated as a sacred
space
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The women weaving the robes follow the five
precepts of Buddhism.
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The robes are offered to the monks during
Buddhist Lent, which coincides with the rainy
season when the lotus are at their peak. And when
worn, the Burmese believe the lotus robes have
the power to calm the mind and aid in meditation
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Lotus scarf for a Buddha statue at Aung Sakkyar
Lotus Robe Cooperative Ltd
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Buddha statue clothed in a lotus robe, Shwe
Yaunghe Kyaung Monastery, near Inle Lake
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There are more than 4,000 lotus flowers woven
within a single scarf and each scarf takes about
2 weeks to complete. This laborious process
explains the expense of the scarves they are
certainly not cheap but then again you wont find
them anywhere else!
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A sacred image in Asian cultures since ancient
times, the lotus is a fitting metaphor for the
Buddhas teachings. Rooted in mud, the lotus
grows upwards through murky waters (suffering)
and its pristine flower blooms high above the
waters surface (purity, enlightenment)
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In Buddhist cosmology the lotus flower contains
all of creation and represents divine birth.
According to the legend, Siddhartha Gautama
Buddha was born with the ability to walk and
lotus flowers bloomed where he took seven steps
in each of the four cardinal directions. The
Buddha is often depicted sitting on top of a
lotus, and the pink colored lotus flower like
the one produced by the Padonma Kyar is the
supreme lotus associated with the Buddhas life
story
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A small neck scarf requires about 4,000 lotus
stems, a large scarf requires about 40,000 stems,
and a full set of monks robes (30 meters)
requires about 220,000 lotus stems and 60 weavers
to complete over a 10-day period.
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Text Internet Pictures Sanda Foisoreanu
Internet All copyrights belong to their
respective owners Presentation Sanda Foisoreanu
2014
Sound Hlaing Win Maung Towards Shwe Man