The girls messed around with their smartphone even in the precinct of Sule Pagoda

Girls messing around with smartphone in precinct — Shot at Sule Pagoda in Yangon, Myanmar

I took off my sandals and walked into the Sule Pagoda in Yangon. In Myanmar, all the premises of Buddhist temples do not allow to enter with one's shoes on. Not only inside of the building, but the whole premises of the temple is strictly prohibited to use shoes. So I was asked to take off my shoes at unexpected places when I visited temples in this country. And the layout of the temple was different from that of Japan. As soon as I entered the precincts of the temple, the huge golden stupa gleaming in the center of the precincts caught my attention. In Japan, the main hall where a statue of the Buddha is enshrined is located in the center of the temple, but in Myanmar, the center of the temple grounds is often occupied by a large stupa. Since it is believed the stupa houses Buddha's ashes, the three-storied pagoda and so on fall under this category in Japanese Buddhist temples. Incidentally, the golden building in Kyoto, called Kinkaku, is also a shining golden structure, because it is actually a reliquary hall, which is the same as a stupa. Since Buddhist statues were introduced to Japan at the same time as the introduction of Buddhism to Japan, they must have been placed in the center of the pagodas. Of course, there are Buddhist statues in Myanmar temples, but they are placed in small halls around the pagodas.

When I stepped into the small hall, I saw some worshippers inside. Some of them were praying to the Buddha statue, while others were relaxing in the back. The girls in this photo were the latter. Each of them had their own phone and was fiddling with it and chatting. From the look of them, they didn't seem to be very interested in praying. It seemed to be the same in every country where people are preoccupied with their phones.

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