Aung Zabu Forest Monastery (Burmese: အောင်ဇမ္ဗူတောရဓမ္မရိပ်သာ; Aung Zabu Tawya Dhamma Yeiktha), commonly known as Japan Paya (Burmese: ဂျပန်ဘုရား) is a Buddhist monastery (kyaung) in Yegya village, Hmawbi Township, Yangon Region, Myanmar (Burma).
| Aung Zabu Forest Monastery | |
|---|---|
အောင်ဇမ္ဗူတောရဓမ္မရိပ်သာ | |
| Religion | |
| Affiliation | Theravada Buddhism |
| Location | |
| Country | Hmawbi Township, Yangon Region, Burma |
| Geographic coordinates | 17°04′40″N 96°05′01″E / 17.0778288969°N 96.0835091118°E |
The monastery was opened c. 2012, using the name of a prominent Buddhist retreat centre in Mawlamyine.[1] The monastery is known for a collection of 301 historic Buddha images from the Pagan, Pinnya, Ava, Toungoo, Nyaungyan, Tagaung and Konbaung eras, although the authenticity of these images has not been verified.[1][2][3] The images were donated by a Japanese national named Kumano in 2012.[2] Over 10,000 visitors per week visit the monastery.[4]
Controversies
editThe monastery has been mired in controversy, criticised for being more a business venture, rather than a religious centre.[1] The monastery grounds now include a shopping arcade, a small zoo, and other attractions.[1] In 2023, the monastery's abbot Paṇḍavaṃsa sparked additional controversy after hosting a lavish 60th birthday celebration at Lotte Hotel in Yangon.[1] He also opened a library, which purportedly doubles as a luxury residence, in Pyin Oo Lwin.[1]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c d e f "ခေတ်ပျက်သည့်တိုင် စီးပွားရေးသောင်းကျန်းနေသည့် ရန်ကုန်က ဂျပန်ဘုရား". Myanmar NOW (in Burmese). 9 March 2023. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
- ^ a b "Devotees flock to 'Japan Pagoda' in Yangon". Thai PBS. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
- ^ "Hunting and hoarding treasure". The Myanmar Times. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
- ^ "Famous Japan Pagoda outside Yangon". Yangon Life. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
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