Buddhism in Myanmar is predominantly of the Theravada tradition, practised by 89% of the country's population It is the most religious Buddhist country in terms of the proportion of monks in the population and proportion of income spent on religion. ... Merit-making is the most common path undertaken by Burmese Buddhists. Myanmar, 2017
Bu Pai is around 60 years old and lives with her son and extended family ever since her husband died a few years back. Bu is from the Muun tribe, easily distinguishable by the inverted D tattooed on her face. Bu had her face tattooed in her early teens and still recalls the pain she went through.
For a boy in Myanmar it is customary to enter a monastery between the age 10 and 20 as a Buddhist novice for at least one week. Sometimes the boys are even younger, and in rare cases they are only 5 or 6 years old. For Burmese people, the novice hood initiation is a very important ceremony and a big event as a family. The novitiation ceremony is called "Shinbyu" in Burmese language. Shinbyu ceremonies are held throughout the whole country, in villages as well as in big cities. Often families send their sons at the same time to the monastery and celebrate the Shinbyu ceremony together. Celebrating together saves costs, because the event with music and traditional dresses is expensive. But it is also a wonderful opportunity for the families to organize a procession through the village as a kind of village festival.
