MOUNT POPA
by Mauro Morelli
(www.viaggiefotografie.it)

Impatient of arriving in Bagan, to see the place where, from the 11th to the 13th century, over 13,000 temples, stupas and monasteries were built, I'm slightly disturbed by the proposal of Soe, our driver and guide, of prolonging our route and visit Mount Popa's pagoda. However I retain my impatience and I will be amply repaid - and this will often happen during this trip in Burma.

A few kilometers before Bagan we leave the main road coming from Pye and we take a steep and winding road; after twenty minutes Soe stops the car on the brink of a curve: in front of us, not much distant, in the middle of a high plane a big horn comes out, a giant hairy hill, almost a long pudding covered with green until half of it and than suddenly naked and covered, on top, at 1,518 meters of altitude, by a colourful and cheerful mix of golden stupas, religious buildings, panoramic terraces and a number of little constructions.
It's been said that in 442 b.C. an earthquake made it suddenly come out from the center of a vulcano.

Burma people consider Mount Popa one of the most sacred sites in the country, the home of Nat, the series of spirits that you should revere, you never know, since they've always been venerated by Burma ancestors and preserve unchanged value and popular consideration even after the almost total conversion to Buddhism, which has taken place during the 11th century thanks to king Anarawtha.

Back in the car, in a few minutes we arrive at the base of this strange hill: a narrow unpaved road animated by groups of believers, coasted by a series of small buildings which serve as temples, artisan shops, restaurants and tea houses.
Among the religious buildings there's a little wooden temple which draws attention: inside, about ten different images of Nat are aligned, covered with adobes the way our puppies of the 50ies were; and if this wasn't enough, there's a further touch of syncretism: among them there's a statue of the hindu god Ganesha, the god with an elephant head. The believers pass in front of these statues, each of them leaving with devotion some offer to the Nat which is suited for his or her need. There's a Nat for ill people, a Nat for car drivers, a Nat for alcoholics, and so on.

Close to this temple, after a couple of white gypsum elephants, starts a long concrete stairway, 772 steps, that, curve after curve, leads to the real paya, on top of Mount Popa. To respect the Buddhist religion, which considers the stairway as part of the religious building, we need to proceed without shoes.
The way up is hard and we're scared not only by the heat, but principally by the fear of stepping on something unpleasant with our naked feet - on the steps you can see red spots of saliva and betel nut -and we're tormented by some little monkeys which hope in a banana or sweets, and won't leave us alone, jumping around.

Once on top, we're immersed in the usual fabulous atmosphere of Burma payas. A number of little buildings, one close to the other, often built with one single room, each of them dedicated to the cult of one, two, three, ten or a hundred images of Buddha. And so many people bringing offers, fruits, bananas, flowers; bowing at the bottom of statues in adoration.
It's easier for me to find inspiration while covering the infinite 360° panorama over the underlying planes and listening with commotion to the delicate music created by the hundreds of little bells, moved by the wind on top of colored stupas.

This is the only way I can feel in communion with something more elevated, and that's when I like to let go and believe that, whatever the name, Buddha, Jesus, Allah, Jahvè, Ganesha, Lao-Tse, or Krishna, His essence is the same.