PLATE X
The Guardian of the Lake
The raft, formed by binding two dugouts together and laying a bamboo platform across them, carries the image of Hpaung-daw-u round Yawng-hwe Lake in the Southern Shan States. Hpaung-daw means "Royal Raft," and the legend is that on it a King of Burma flew through the air to visit outlying parts of his dominions. The festival takes place about October at the end of the Buddhist vassa (see p. 279), and the guardians of the image are the Chief and his Ministers of State. Cf. Plate XX.
