Burmese Days : a Noviciation Ceremony

Mandalay is the religious centre of Myanmar. When we arrived, the whole city seemed to be busy with religious activity. A chanting monk on a loudspeaker kept us awake all night - a bit like a muezzin, with the difference that the monk kept at it 24/7 for five days!

                                                                   The chanting monk who kept us awake

When a young boy becomes a monk, the parents arrange for a noviciation ceremony. Parents save no cost to make the celebrations as ostentatious as possible.  It is a big important event, only comparable to a wedding.
During the winter school holidays, several of those ceremonies took place. We came upon a stunning extended procession to celebrate the novices of a large family.   They had  rented an elephant and the children were dressed like princes and riding on horses. Often, all children of different ages of an extended family, sons, cousins, nieces and nephews and god children  will join together to save cost on the occasion and sometimes a rich sponsor invites the lesser well-off to be able to become novices. A novitiation procession, Mandalay