There they stand in a line, offerings of food and flowers covering their pedestals. These figures are called Nats, spirits of the wind, earth, rain and sky, and in Myanmar (formerly Burma) they are representations of people (and animals) who have died tragic deaths. Some are former royalty, territorial overlords or soldiers. One is a former Burmese King. Another is a buffalo, who is said to have raised a prince. The prince was found by some soldiers and returned to the palace, wherein the buffalo followed them and rammed through the palace gates to get to her stepchild before the guards killed her.
On Mt. Popa, the core of an ancient volcano often described as the Mt. Olympus of Myanmar, the thirty-seven “inside” Nats are honored in the most sacred Nat shrine in the country.
Around 1100 AD, King Anawratha, who had learned Buddhism from a missionary, united all the Burmese kingdoms then attempted to convert the people to Buddhism, outlawing the worship of Nats, but this act angered his subjects and they resisted his efforts. Finally, he decided to incorporate the Nats into the Buddhist religion and, declaring Buddha to be the greatest of the Nats, announced that there would be 37 official Nats, whose images he personally carried up to Mt. Popa. These are known as the “inside” Nats. Other Nats, who continue to be worshipped, are called “outside” Nats.
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