Located on the western bank of the Ayeyawady River, Pakokku is an old traditional Burmese town. Thiho Shin pagoda is the most venerated temple in the region with people living in towns west of the Ayeyawady coming to celebrate here bringing all the traditional products – from dried chilli to homespun baskets and tobacco. Pakokku is also famous for the best thanakha trees – the bark of these trees is pounded to make the purely organic make-up powder used by many Myanmar women.
Sleepy all other days of the year, Pakokku comes alive during the festival. Besides the fair, prayer rituals are held all the 15 days of the festival. Red robed Buddhist monks wander around the grounds of the pagoda gathering offerings and donations from locals and tourists. These offerings form an important part of the resorces used for preservation of the pagoda.
It takes about 10 hours to reach Pakokku from Yangon by bus, and twice less – 5 hours – if travelling from Mandalay. There are trains to Pakokku both from Mandalay and Bagan plus you can hop aboad a slow ferry that connects Pakokku with Nyaung U (for Bagan temples).
Pakokku to Host Annual Thino Shin Pagoda Festival
News in Asia
Myanmar's popular annual Pakokku Thino Shin Pagoda festival celebrated for 15 days starting from the 8th Waxing of Nayon, falls on June, 10 this year. Tourists are invited to join this carnival-like fair in Pakokku, a town in the Central Myanmar.