Mount Popa

This is where I will write about Mount Popa and the various legends.

Panoramic view of Mount Popa, a favorite place for Weizzars to meditate and Zawgyis to prepare herbal medicines using the science of Aryuveda - the science of healthy living.

Mount Popa is in Mandaylay Division and it is situated at a place 6 kilometres east of Bagan. It is 402 miles from Yangon, the capital of Burma. You can go to Popa by train, car or by air. If you go by train you have to get down at Kyaukpadaung station. If you go by air, you get off at Nyaung Oo airport and continue the rest of the journey by car.

Mount Popa is an extinct volcano and is 1,500 feet above sea level. The soil is very fertile because of the high lava content. Plants and trees such as bananas, jackfruit, coffee, plums, grapes and vegetables are grown on the slopes and at the foot of the mountain.

Flowers such as Tharaphi, Ingyin, Padauk, Thityar, Sagawar. Gangaw and various medinal plants grow wild on Mount Popa.

U Pyi Sone, in yogi garb. He was one of the famous yogis who promoted the Sasana in the Popa and Bagan areas.

He has now passed away. These pictures are taken from his biography written in Burmese.

Popa Meidaw and Son. Popa Meidaw is the guardian spirit of Mount Popa. Legend says that she was a female Bilu who lived on Mount Popa and fell in love with a human being. This human being was none other than the younger kala brother who served King Anawrahta. They were the Byatwi and Byatta brothers . Out of the union between the female Bilu and the younger kala brother was born Shwephyingyi and Shwephyinlay - also called Min Gyi and Min Lay by the Burmese. (pp. - 76 - 77, more details can be found in the Glass Palace Chronicle of the Kings of Burma translated by U Pe Maung Tin and G. H. Luce - Rangoon University Press, 1960). This is the reason why certain Burmese people who worship Mingyi and Mingalay nats do not eat pork. Aparently the Byatwi and Byatta kala brothers were followers of the Islamic faith.

This picture was taken by me during my last visit to Myanmar in February 1999.