Ananda Pagoda Festival 2025 in Myanmar

Massive celebration in the most beautiful temple of Bagan

Dates: January 13–27, 2025 (unconfirmed)

Each year after the harvest season, the Ananda Pagoda Festival brings a thrum of activity to the ancient ruins of Bagan—the Ananda Temple. It's one of the biggest festivals in Bagan that symbolizes the endless wisdom of Buddha. It is usually held in January or early February for approximately 15 days with the best time to visit during the first and last days of the festival. The festival aims to raise money for the upkeep of Bagan’s thousand-year-old temple. Stalls and shops surrounding the temple sell everything from food to agricultural implements.

Dates of the Festival

Ananda Pagoda Festival runs according to the Burmese calendar and begins on the full moon of Pyatho. The first day of the festival is bustling with activity and local traditions, but you can still experience plenty of local culture on the rest of the days. The event runs until the 15th Waning of Pyatho. The dates usually fall in January and February.

Festival Customs & Traditions

Villagers from around Bagan come to the festival in traditional bullock carts and arrange camps for the whole duration of the festival. Many famous local theatrical troupes also come to provide entertainment for the festival-goers, including slap-stick comedy, dancing, and singing. While this is mainly a religious celebration, this is also a chance for locals to meet their old friends from all over the region and even the country. Ananda Temple is the epicenter of the festivities, with hundreds of villagers gathering here to pray.

During the festival, 1,000 monks perform continuous chanting of Buddhist scriptures for 72 hours. As dawn breaks on the Full Moon Day of Pyatho, the pilgrims give donations to the monks. This festival is the best chance to enjoy the local atmosphere, see the ritual of Buddhists, and donate to the temple.

Ananda Temple in Bagan

Towering over the city of Bagan, Ananda Temple has been called by many the "Westminster Abbey of Burma" and and is revered as one of the most beautiful in Myanmar. The temple houses four standing Buddhas, facing different directions of the world.