Some build statues in honour of their national heroes. In Natmauk, they race bullocks.
On the ground it was hot enough to fry an egg, but the boisterous crowd
hanging off the fence around the dusty race track didn’t seem to mind,
their cheers erupting loudly every time a bullock cart crossed the
finish line.
Bullock cart racing, an age-old tradition of upper Myanmar, is being
revived by residents in Natmauk, Magwe Region, the hometown of Bogyoke
Aung San, the revolutionary leader who won Myanmar’s independence from
the British.
The three-day-long bullock cart racing festival is held every year on a
dusty field called Yin Chaung in Natmauk to celebrate Bogyoke Aung
San’s birthday which falls on February 13. This year marks his 103rd
birthday.
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28-year-old Ko Aung Thaung Oo, a middle-school headmaster from Chauk
township, Magwe Region, could barely contain his excitement at crossing
the finish line first during the first round of the race. Every year
since 2015 he has made the 140 kilometre journey with his prize bullocks
from his village down to Natmauk to participate in the birthday
celebrations.
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