Warming welcome to Mon Refugees Organization's Site-Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur

The Golden Sheldrake and Myths of Origin


The image of the Sheldrake is reproduced on one of the ivory ‘Chansen comb’, one of the most celebrated archaeological finds in Thailand, which dates from about 200 Ad. The golden Sheldrake is known in Pali and classical Mon as the hamsa or hangsa, and in Burmese as the hintha. In Hindu mythology, the hamsa is the sacred mount of Brahma – a symbol of divine kingship. It is the national symbol of the Mon people, and a popular image in traditional Burmese. Indian, Khmer and Cham art. The peacock meanwhile is a Burmese national emblem.
In modern Mon, the golden Sheldrake is known as the bophtaw. This mythical beast is modeled on a real creature- the Brahminy Duck, or Ruddy Sheldrake (Tadoma Ferraginea). A creature of “large size and goose – like shape” with “orange chestnut” (or golden) “body plumage and buffy head”, the Ruddy Sheldrake producers a “a nasal, goose-like honking”, which recalls the distinctive sound of the Mon tongue. Although its numbers are in India, China, Eurasia and East Africa; its habitats are “lakes, marshes, rivers and flooded paddies.” A particular characteristic is its tendency (like the hornbill – a Chin and Karen icon) to pair and mate for life. This fact may help to explain the Sheldrake’s special place in Mon culture, as exemplified in the following legend, which is often recounted to this day, and the image of which is reproduced numerous times across lower Burma.
At the time of Gottama Buddha, the Mon lands were still submerged beneath the sea. Some years after his enlightenment, the Buddha and his retinue passed overhead, on an aerial tour of the lands east of India. The Buddha observed two Sheldrakes, the female perched upon the back of the male, settled on a pinnacle jutting out from the sea. He prophesied that a great nation would one day emerge from the sea here, and that is people would glorify Buddhism. Several centuries later, the god Indra founded the city of Hongsawaddy (or Pegu) and made it over to two brothers, Samala and Vimala, princes of Thaton. A great city was built on the spot where the Sheldrakes had rested, the site of which is today marked by the Hinthagone Pagoda, which offers spectacular views west over Pegu to the Maha Zedi Pagoda (built by the Burma king, Bayinnaung).
In a symbol that neatly combines its pastoral role and nationalist credentials, the logo of the Mon National Relief Committee/Mon Relief and Development Committee (MNRC/RMDC) depicts a Sheldrakes perched upon the back, and protected by the wings of, another larges bird. And image of the golden Sheldrake features on the NMSP flag, flying against a red background, together with a five point blue pole-star – symbol (in Malaysia, with a five point white pole – star –symbol) of revolutionary truth and conviction. (The MNLA flag depicts a blue star above a crown sword – symbols of dominion – wreathed by two stalks of paddy; NMLA arm – patch employs a golden lion emblem.) The hintha is also the official emblem of the Mon State in Government – controlled ‘Myanmar’. However, there is in an important difference between the Mon nationalists’ and the state’s depiction of the Sheldrake. The seals and flags of the NMSP, and of the Mon National Democratic Front (MNDF), feature a flying hamsa; the military regime and its organs invariably picture the Sheldrake seated, or standing of the ground. The symbolic message is clear: Mon ascendancy ended with the fall of the Hongsawaddy, and whilst the Burmese peacock rules, the hamsa will not fly. (Until after the 1995 NMSP- SLORC ceasefire, representations of the hamsa in flight were effectively banned in Burma.)
The image of the hamsa is ubiquitous across lower Burma – ‘the golden land’: the land of the golden Sheldrake. In towns and villages south and east of Pegu, the icon is emblazoned on monasteries and markets alike; on bus stops, billboards, and bookshop. As Emmanuel Guillon notes, ‘every book, every monument, every monastery of the present-day Mons has the hamsa as an emblem.’ Even the Myanmar Border Trade Department’s official logo features an image of the tradition hintha- shaped measuring weight, recalling the Mon’s age-old role as international commercial and cultural entrepreneurs.
Meanwhile in Thailand, the hamsa adorns Buddhist temples, from Bangkok to the southern provinces. On a more worldly level, the poplar Hing thong brand of rice whisky sports a distinctive golden hongsa logo.
The myth of the golden Sheldrake, and the origin of this symbol in Brahmin-Hindu religion, clearly indicates the formative influence of Indian culture on Mon civilization. This is confirmed in another popular Mon legend, which is recounted in the chronicles and inscriptions of both Burma and Sri Lanka, the two countries which fostered Theravada Buddhism after its decline in India.
Shortly after achieving enlightenment, the Buddha received a meal of milk rice and honey cakes, proffered by two brothers, the merchants Phussa (or Ita Pu) and Bhandlka (or Ita Paw), from Ukkalapa in India. These mythical ancestors of the Mon, who went on to propagate Buddhism in the east, asked for a memorial of their service, and were given eight of the Buddha’s hairs, the first and most important of all Buddhist relics. The hairs were later enshrined in great splendour, together with relics of three previous Buddhas, beneath a chedi (pagoda) on the top of Singhuttara hill, near the ancient cult centre of Dagon. Thus originated the Shewdagon Pagoda, the most renowned in all Burma. The legend is recounted in both the Shwedagon and Kalyani Sima inscription, and in the History of king, and is memorialized in sculpture at the ‘golden rock’ Kyaiktiyo monastery in Mon state, near where the brothers are supposed to have landed on their arrival from India.
Another important Mon legend is the cosmological myth of Mulah Muh – or ‘Ultimate Origin’ – which according to Guillon is “a kind of vast ‘natural history of good and evil’ … strongly tinged with Buddhism.” Although it contains elements common to Khmer and other creation myths, the tale is essentially unique to the Mon, and “manuscripts of this work could be found even recently in nearly all Mon Monasteries.”

Invitation Letter for the 61st Anniversary of the Mon National day on the 22nd of the Febbruary, 2008 marks auspicious the 61st anniversary of the Mon National Day that it had been Celebrated by honoring of two Mon Princes, Samala and Wimala, who founded the Mon Sovereign Kingdom that on every 1st waxing dayof 11st months, mide (according to Mon Lunar calendar)). So, we'd like to invite all on friend and colleagues from International Societies (NGOs and human right Organization) in Malaysia to attend the ceremony of the 61st anniversary of Mon National day that will be held according to the following schedule.
Date ;; (22. 02. 2008) on friday, Time ;; from (10:00 am to 4:00 pm), Venus ;; Chinese Assembly Hall, No.1, Jln Maharajalela, 50150, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, for contact Number +603 2144 4404, +6012 6816069, +6016 3926 106, +6016 344 0992 Thank you, MRO

မၝဳဪရအၜ၊ အဲ မဟိမုကမ္နိရာဲ မဂြံညာတ္ေကတ္မုက္လိက္ဏံဂွ္ မိပ္စုိတ္ေလာန္သန္။ ဆက္ေကႜာန္အာညိ မိက္ဂြံဆ၀္ပၝဳဟ္ဏာရ။