Festival banned 20 years returns to Myanmar pagoda

YANGON, Myanmar — Amid the towering golden spires of Myanmar's grandest Buddhist shrine there was talk of politics and hope for the future as thousands came Wednesday for the return of an annual festival that was banned for more than 20 years by the former military regime.

Gongs chimed at Shwedagon Pagoda as the diamond-studded monument marked what is being billed as the 2,600-year anniversary of the temple, which according to legend houses eight strands of Buddha's hair.

More than a tribute to Buddhism, the event was a celebration of new freedom and the latest sign of change in this long-repressed country.

"The previous regime, they wanted people to be repressed, suppressed, quiet and stable," said Pyinya Wuntha, a saffron-robed monk who not long ago might have been jailed for saying such things. "Now the government has changed and the system has changed."

"They cannot control us by pointing guns at us anymore," the monk said.

For nearly half a century, the country was ruled by a secretive, xenophobic military regime that cracked down on any perceived dissent.

The junta ceded power last year to an elected but military-backed government that has surprised critics with an unexpected wave of reforms — freeing political prisoners, relaxing strict media censorship and allowing opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi to run for parliament in April.

Fear that was so pervasive among the people of Myanmar is gradually giving way to greater confidence. Many people spoke candidly about the new government, without lowering their voices. Under the junta, it was taboo to discuss politics with foreigners and gatherings of more than five people were liable to a ban, due to the generals' fears of an uprising.

Smaller pagoda ceremonies that focused on religious rituals were allowed by the defunct military regime. But larger festivals, particularly at the Shwedagon, were seen as holding potential for trouble in this devoutly Buddhist country, where religion and politics have often mixed.

The Shwedagon was used as a rallying point for anti-government protesters in 2007 when monks led a pro-democracy uprising that the army quashed with deadly force.

It was against the backdrop of the Shwedagon's golden dome that Suu Kyi electrified a crowd of half a million people in 1988 with a speech that launched her career as opposition leader and Myanmar's icon of democracy.