The Myanmar Taungbyone Nat Festival
 

The Taungbyone Nat or Spirit Festival ("Nat Pwe") is the most popular Nat Pwe in Myanmar and is a boisterous affair held in pomp and ceremony on the 5th lunar month of Wagaung (August) in the small town of Madaya and any Natkadaw worth his salt must attend! According to tradition, Nats are spirits that must be appeased or they will wreak havoc in peoples' lives. The two Nat Brothers honoured during Taungbyone belong to the 37 well-known Myanmar Nats. Offerings are made by devotees for such things as favours to come, fulfilment of wishes, the well-being of the family, success in business, luck in an examination or job interview, prospects for a good marriage or for blessings for a male offspring,

Natkadaws ("Nat Gadaw", "Nat wife", Medium") are generally gay guys who act the part of Nats in all Nat festivals.

The story of the two Nat Brothers originated during the rule of King Anawrahta in the mid-11th century when it was the duty of every person in the Kingdom to contribute a brick and a handful of sand for the construction of a Pagoda. The brothers failed to contribute their share and orders came from the King for them to be mildly punished. Unfortunately, the Nat Brothers were accidentally killed.

The King was remorseful and built a big Nat shrine by the side of the Taungbyone Pagoda honouring the two brothers and there are images of them inside the "Twin Princes" Pagoda. The brothers and the mother were believed to be reborn as Nats. This homage-paying festival is now held annually to appease the spirits as it is believed that the Nat Brothers can fulfil your wishes, protect you from ill-fate and danger, and bring good luck, prosperity and progress.

The Brothers

Shwe Phyin Gyi and Shwe Phyin Ngeh were the sons of Byatta the royal messenger, and Me Wunna the flower eating ogress during the reign of King Anawrahta of Bagan and became the adopted sons of King Anawrahta.

The Nat Festival of Mount Popa

Mount Popa is in Magwe division in central Myanmar and is an extinct volcano nearly 5,000 feet high and covered with forest. The name Popa has its root in Sanskrit and means "flower". The forest is well known for flowering trees such as Cananga Orarata (Saga Sein) and "Michelia champaca" (Sagawa) and medicinal herbs. It was the abode of Mei Wunna, mother of the Taungbyone brothers.

As mentioned above the two sons were believed to be reborn as Nats as was their mother . When their mother heard of the brothers' death she passed away and a special Nat shrine was built dedicated to Nat Mei Wunna and she is worshiped at Mount Popa. The Nat festival is celebrated annually here on a grand scale. The YaTa Na Gu festival ("cave of Jewel festival") is held at Amarapura one week after the Taungbyone Festival and is dedicated to Nat Wei Wunna.

A Nat-Shrine was also built at Mount Popa for Maung Tint De, the mighty blacksmith of Tagaung who became a Nat.

Mount Popa is therefore one of the centres of Nat-worshipers, and the followers  join in the Nat festival with either a strong belief or for mere fun!

Popa is about 30 miles from Bagan and there is a road to the foot of the mountain. Nat Maung Tint De is worshiped by many households all over Myanmar as the house Guardian Nat.