Monks Stage Protest in Rangoon

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RANGOON, Burma -- Buddhist monks took to the streets in Burma’s former capital on Saturday to show solidarity with fellow monks who were injured during a crackdown on protests late last month and to demand an apology from the country’s president.

<< Buddhist monks and their supporters march through downtown Rangoon to demonstrate against a crackdown on protests late last month. (Photo: The Irrawaddy)

In the latest display of political activism by the Buddhist clergy, more than a dozen Rangoon monks gathered under the shadow of Shwedagon Pagoda and marched to downtown Sule Pagoda at 1:30 pm yesterday.

Joined by nearly 100 laymen, the monks carried Buddhist flags and posters showing graphic pictures of monks suffering from severe burns caused by incendiary devices used by police in a pre-dawn raid on six protest camps near the controversial Letpadaung copper mine in Sagaing Division.

The Nov. 29 crackdown was the most violent response to civil disobedience since reformist President Thein Sein took office last year. More than 90 monks were hospitalized for injuries inflicted during the raid.

“We want to know who was behind the brutal attack on our fellow monks. We want the president say something to restore justice,” said Pyinnya Wuntha, a 62-year-old monk, during the march.

“Burma is a predominantly Buddhist country but we have been inhumanly attacked since 2007 by authorities who boast that they are devout Buddhists,” said another monk, referring to the crackdown on the 2007 monk-led Saffron Revolution.

Since the raid, small protests against the crackdown have erupted across Rangoon, and six people actively involved have been charged with inciting unrest.

However, the police did not interfere with yesterday’s demonstration, nor were there any security forces to be seen during the hour-long rally.

Earlier this month, officials, including the religious affairs minister, apologized to the Sangha Mahanayaka, a senior monks body, for what happened during the raid.

“The government is going in the wrong direction. They are apologizing to those who were not affected by their attack,” said Buddhist monk Aggha, 27, after reading out a five-point statement that included calls for a presidential apology, the immediate release of those detained and medical care for injured monks.

Meanwhile, hundreds of Buddhist monks in Mandalay, Burma’s second largest city, and Monywa, a town near the copper mine, also staged protests yesterday.

In the wake of the raid, the government urgently formed a 16-member investigation commission headed by the Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi to probe the incident and whether the mine should continue to operate. It has to submit its findings by Dec. 31.

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Ancient Buddhist music used first time for a stage play on life of Buddha

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New Delhi, India -- Deb Chowdhury is a popular music director from the West Bengal state of India with strong and ancient Buddhist roots.

The drama company Rangapath of which he is the music director is the producer of a unique stage play entitled Thathagatha, based on Buddha’s life.

The stage play became more unique as Chowdhury decided to make use of thousands of years old ancient Buddhist music for the play.

To adapt such a music track for Thathagatha he did research in two Tantrayana Buddhist monasteries in India and five other monasteries in China.

Commenting on the kind of music he has invented for the play a Times of India writer Dibyajyajyoti Chaudhuri said, “Music transcends all barriers, they say. But when it comes to music associated with the Buddha, there is something in it that makes it universal.”

The writer further said, “The Erhu, Pipa, Ruan and Gu jheng may sound like words from a distant land but are actually names of Chinese string instruments used in authentic Buddhist music that have been adapted into the soundtrack of " Tathagata", a Bengali play based on the life of the Buddha, by the theatre group Rangapat.”

The man behind this feat further said, "For the music, I researched for more than two years. I visited monasteries in Bodhgaya and Mirik and recorded the music of Vajrayana Buddhism. English speaking Lamas translated the notations of the original music from the libraries at the gumphas." 

When Deb got a chance to fly to China in September 2011, he visited six ancient Buddhist places of worship there. "I was at the Big Wild Goose Pagoda and the Famen Temple at Xi'an, the White Horse Temple and the caves of Longmen Grottoes, both in Luoyang in the Henan Province, the Five Pagoda Temple at Haidan and the Tanjhe Temple at Memtougou, both in Beijing. I recorded the Buddhist chants and music from these places and used them in the play," Deb says. Many chants were processed at the studio and some of the music was re-created locally to get that authentic feel.

Tapanjyoti Das, the director of the play, feels that it was imperative to have that perfect music for bringing the 3,000-year-oldstory alive on the stage. "Such a deeply researched work on Gautam Buddha is perhaps being done for the first time in India. The script, written by Mohit Chattopadhyay, is a result of years of research on the Buddha. Added to that, Deb's music was the icing on the cake. The play is for a qualified audience and the first staging was only for a select few from the theatre fraternity. It was much appreciated by them," says Tapanjyoti.

"The temples are mostly 1,400 to 1,500 years old and are storehouses of Buddhists music," Deb says.

Apart from the string instruments, sounds of the Chinese flute, the Xiao, and many other Chinese percussions have been used in the play too.

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