Photo Essay: Before Novice
© Sai Aung Main
Edited by: Chit Min Maung (http://www.cmmaung.me)
Text by: Maung Lwin
For a Myanmar boy, this is the most important ceremony. It is obligatory to be initiated, as he is not considered a good Buddhist until he has gone through this procedure, to become a novice. For the parents, it is the best opportunity to gain the immense merit by sponsoring such a ceremony. It also marks the boys’ transition from one age status to another as a kind of rite of passage. It is also the responsibility of the Buddhist parents in Myanmar to see their boys initiated so that the boys do not miss the most essential privilege of their existence in this world.
