Aung Naing Lin, a painter, has spent years carving Buddha statues to aid the country’s honest, but getting the stone he needs from rebel-held caves in the midst of civil war is today a difficult task.
Myanmar, which has a Buddhist majority, has been mired in bloody issue since the military toppled Aung San Suu Kyi’s state in 2021, putting an end to a 10-year test with democracy and launching a pervasive military uprising.
In recent months, critics of the defense have advanced with spacecraft and aircraft attacks on Mandalay– the country’s second-biggest area, with a community of 1.5 million.
The insurgents have also taken control of the mountain mines, which have for decades provided the stone that adorns Mandalay’s palaces and monks as well as the shrines in common homes.
Then, moving the precious stone and almost carved figures by vehicle across the split of the civil war, from dissident to junta-held country, is cheap, difficult and dangerous.
Aung Naing Lin told AFP at his hushed workshop in Mandalay,” The situation around the Madaya township ( where the mines are located ) is not very good,” his face and hair strewn with white dust.
We ca n’t bring the stones back, and it’s not easy to do.
Surrounded by lots of blank-faced Buddha figures waiting to be given vision, lips and mouth, Min Min Soe agreed.
” Sales are not that awful, but the concern is bringing the figures here”, he said.
” We can only sell the statues we currently have, and we ca n’t import any more raw ones.”
Another workshop’s landlord, who declined to be identified, claimed associates of his were just detained after stealing stone from Madaya, a rebel-held location.
They were question how they removed the stones from the community because the PDF controlled that place, according to the local military column.
” Women’s Army Forces” are models made up of former individuals, farmers and workers who have left their life behind to take up arms and oppose the regime’s revolution.
Different Files have been distributed across the country, forcing the dictatorship into a terrible standoff.
The dictatorship has designated them as “terrorists”, and touch with them can take years in prison.
Eventually, the studio owner claimed,” they released the persons who had been detained and gave the rocks back.”
” It’s like a reminder to all. In this circumstance, we dare never to provide stones from the community.
Madaya caves
The cultural and religious background of Myanmar has a long connection to the conflicts that afflict Madaya.
After two fatal wars with the British, then-king Mindon ordered craftsmen to transport Buddhist scriptures from palm leaf manuscripts onto 720 blocks of good stone to ensure they survived any further damage.
The military, which has ruled Myanmar for much of its history since its independence from Britain in 1948, also finds the stone appealing.
In 2020, it sanctioned the building of a 25-metre ( 82-foot ) high statue of the Buddha made from Madaya marble to adorn its custom-built capital Naypyidaw.
The visit has since become a regular stop on the itinerary for the few foreign delegations that travel to the isolated junta after Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing declared the statue finished last year.
‘ Living Buddhas ‘
Min Min Min Soe and others put the finishing touches on the dozens of roughly hewn statues as the fighting continues north of Mandalay.
Their forefathers used chisels, but nowadays, craftsmen use drills to etch everything from Buddha’s face, the folds in his robe, fingernails and the lotus flower he sits on.
Women use sandpaper to sand the rough edges, which takes a long time, said Min Min Soe.
” Women are better at this as they are more patient”, he said.
A finished statue around 25 centimetres ( 10 inches ) high fetches between 100, 000- 200, 000 Myanmar kyat ($ 50-$ 100 at the official exchange rate ), he said.
Workers transporting a sitting Buddha statue to a customer from one of the workshops on the busy street.
Min Min Min Soe claims that in the midst of rumors of an attack on Mandalay, looking after the hundreds of his creations that are still in stock helps him find peace.
He considers them “living Buddhas”.
” I clean the statues at 4 am every day… This is important for both my company and my reputation,” he said.
No matter whether they are sold or not, I want them to be presentable and clean.
