Thousands in Myanmar pray for strength

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) -- As the steady rain that had been falling all day eased off, monks at the Shwedagon Pagoda began to chant and the worshippers prayed. Many brought their children, some of whom laughed and played marbles in the pavilion.

Others just cried.

Despite the passage of more than two weeks, the reminders of Cyclone Nargis are everywhere. The winds damaged the stupas and pavilion roofs of the hilltop temple. The cyclone tore off hundreds of gold leaf panels. Many precious stones fell off.

Still, Yangon's holiest shrine, reopened last Saturday after it was closed for five days of repairs following the May 2-3 cyclone, is once again up and running.

And the people are looking to it for solace.

While most people wore new and bright-colored clothes -- Monday was a special Buddhist holiday -- Kyaw Zaw Thanh and his 6-year-old son were wearing old and dirty white shirts. His wife and the child's mother are among the tens of thousands who remain missing after the storm.

"She went to visit her family in a village near Hpayapon three weeks ago," Kyaw Zaw Thanh said. "After the storm, I took a bus to the town and took a boat out to go see her family, but the house was completely flattened. We didn't find anyone there."

Another man and his son stood out in the crowd of thousands, sitting with a saffron-robed monk in one of the smaller pavilions that has not been fully renovated.

"He wouldn't eat, he wouldn't sleep. He wouldn't stop crying. He is afraid we won't find his mother," the man said, looking at the child, who stared at the floor as his tears continually fell.

"We pray for her. She might be in a camp. She may be trying to find her way," he said, with his hand on the child's shoulder.

Worshippers chanted prayers, burned incense and released birds around the grounds of the temple, which is not only a religious center but also a historical focal point for social and political protests. Monks gathered here for last September's big pro-democracy protests, which were brutally crushed by the military.

Kyi Mien, a woman in her 30s, said she has strengthened her prayers since the storm.

"We prayed for our family, health, future. And we prayed for those who lost their families to Nargis," she said, adding that she believed Yangon, Myanmar's main city and former capital, was spared because of the holiness of the Shwedagon.

"We pray that it will keep us safe," she added. "We keep hearing another storm might be coming. I am afraid it will hit without warning."

On a corner near the east gate of the pagoda, a notice board showed pictures of destroyed pagodas as volunteers asked pilgrims for money for renovation. A monk said they were not allowed by local authorities to put up pictures of cyclone victims or hungry and desperate survivors.

But since it's a religious site, pictures of destroyed pagodas were allowed.

"They don't want to upset people," he said.

As Tuesday dawned, a three-day official period of mourning began for the dead, which numbered more than 78,000, according to official figures. Another 56,000 people are missing.

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