喜びと悲しみ入り交じり…祭り再開　ミャンマー・インレー湖

【インレー湖ＡＦＰ＝時事】ミャンマー中部シャン州のインレー湖で、ファウンドーウーパゴダ祭りが開催されている。（写真はミャンマー・インレー湖で行われたファウンドーウーパゴダ祭り）
　１８日間続く祭りは、同国最大規模。ファウンドーウーパゴダに安置されている仏像のうち４基を黄金の船に載せて村々を回る。
　ミャンマーでは、２０２１年に国軍がクーデターにより実権を掌握してから、反体制派に対する弾圧が続いており、地元監視団体によるとこれまでに４１００人以上が死亡、数万人が逮捕された。そうした中で、３年ぶりの開催となった祭りは、喜びと悲しみが入り交じった雰囲気に包まれていた。
　実行委員のカン・ミンさんは、「この祭りは、地元住民にとって非常に重要だ。伝統衣装を着て、一緒になって仏像を載せた船をこぐ。世界でこのような場所は他にない」と語った。
　地元住民のプー・ピエ・トゥエさんは「私たちは３年間開催されなかった祭りが再開されて楽しんでいる。一方で、（インレー湖から離れた場所の）状況は良くない。彼らのことを考えると心が痛い」と語った。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2023/10/24-17:07）

Thousands of Buddhists took to boats on Myanmar's famed Inle Lake on Thursday to celebrate the return of one of the nation's biggest festivals, but the devotees' joy was laced with the sorrow of war.
The seventeen-day Phaung Daw Oo pagoda festival sees four sacred Buddha images placed on a golden barge and rowed through villages that dot the shores of the tourist hotspot in eastern Shan state.
The coronavirus pandemic and then the military's 2021 coup cancelled the three previous editions of the festival, denying locals the chance to worship the images and gain merit.
On Thursday morning, the golden barge zipped through the cool water, towed by sleek wooden longboats crewed by men rowing in the local fashion -- a leg wrapped around their oar to gain more push.
Dozens of boats filled with worshippers followed as the sun rose, the sounds of drums and cymbals accompanying the flotilla.
We are enjoying here but on the other side (outside of Inle Lake) the situation is not good, student Phuu Pyae Thwe told AFP on the water.
We feel sad because of their situation... We are also worrying what could happen on the way, the student added, such as possible armed clashes.
We want to apologise to you all. We haven't held [the festival] for three years already. We are sorry about the fighting in other places.
As they drew alongside the golden barge decked out with Buddhist flags, devotees prayed to the four images inside.
A fifth Buddha image remains in the Phaung Daw Oo pagoda during the festivities -- the legacy of an accident several decades ago when it was dropped into the lake from the boat carrying it.
- Tourist no-go -
Foreign travellers flocked to Inle's waters and brooding hills after the then-junta transitioned to semi-civilian rule in 2011 and opened up the Southeast Asian nation.
But arrivals have dried up since the 2021 coup, which has battered the economy and put many areas of the country off-limits.
One worker in the nearby town of Nyaungshwe told AFP his hotel had shed 80 percent of its staff.
Many hotels are closed because there are no local or foreign guests, they said, asking for anonymity.
Shan state has been spared the worst of the military's crackdown that a local monitoring group says has killed more than 4,100 people and seen tens of thousands arrested.
But in March around 30 people sheltering from fighting at a monastery just hours from Inle were killed, with the junta and anti-coup fighters trading blame over the massacre.
The military says more than 6,000 people have been killed by anti-coup fighters.
We've been preparing since we heard the festival was going to happen, Than Nyunt, 75, told AFP.
We are also doing good deeds for those people in Myanmar who are suffering as well, she said.
We are praying for them. We are wishing for them to be happy and peaceful again quickly like here.
On the shore, Htway Yi said she was very happy for the festival's return.
We were sad as we hadn't seen (the Buddha statues) for three years, she told AFP.
We are happy now... I want the lake to be crowded like before.