3 days ago
12
You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load.
The people of Myanmar have often turned to the clergy for aid during natural disasters. But last month’s earthquake was also devastating for monks, many of whom died under the rubble of collapsed monasteries.
April 11, 2025, 3:00 a.m. ET
The body lay wrapped in a maroon robe as a small cluster of mourners gathered last week to pay their respects. Buddhist monks chanted verses, praying for the deceased, who had been one of them.
One monk, Ashin Javanar Linkhara, then held his dead colleague’s robe to his forehead and whispered the phrase used to announce the death of a loved one, “Impermanent, alas, are all formations.” He was clutching a dusty, thin and slightly torn cotton blanket that had belonged to the dead monk, Ashin Pyinnyar Tharmi, 27. It was found near his body in the rubble of a monastery in Mandalay, Myanmar, that was toppled by the powerful earthquake last month.
The monk’s funeral concluded soon after, with more cremations following that day, instead of the dayslong ceremonies typically held for monks.
Image
Myanmar was already in a humanitarian crisis before the disaster, ravaged by a long civil war. The earthquake on March 28 killed thousands of people and also struck a devastating blow to an underpinning of society: the country’s Buddhist clergy. Thousands of religious monuments and buildings were destroyed and many monks were buried under their monasteries. It is not known how many monks were killed.
Buddhism is the official religion in Myanmar and about 90 percent of its people adhere to the faith. It has shaped the country’s identity and moral code but has also been fused with nationalism. In recent years, an extremist movement has led to Buddhist lynch mobs killing hundreds of Muslims.
