Ma Phae Wah

Ma Phae Wah (Burmese: မဖဲဝါ, also spelt as Ma Phae War; lit. 'yellow-ribbon lady') is a Burmese
nat (spirit). She is the guardian spirit of the graveyards and cemeteries in Myanmar.[1][2][3]

Ma Phae Wah makes her home in the cemetery, but come midnight she hoists a coffin onto her
shoulder and shuffles through town with her long hair waving in the spectral breeze. Woe to the
household where she stops and lays her casket on the doorstep, for someone in that family,
usually a child will soon sicken and die.

Legend

During the reign of King Bagyidaw of Konbaung, Ma Phae Wah was said to be Ma Thae U, a
native of Pyay. She had an older brother named Maung Kyan Sit. He served as a clerk to the
Duke of Pyay. His title was Min Ye Dibba.[4]

Soon after her parents' death, she was living with her brother and had to rely on him. One day
Maung Kyan Sit rebelled against the Duke of Pyay and fled along the Irrawaddy River. They
arrived in a sparsely populated area with many lakes. They lived in obscurity and Ma Thae U
changed her name to Ma Phae Wah and Maung Kyan Sit changed his name to Maung San Hmé.
They prospered by working as fishers.[4]

One rainy night, her brother had not returned home for three days, so she worried and went to the
lake. Maung San Hmé was drunk and mistakenly killed his sister as a demon. He was extremely
sad and drank more than before. His colleagues took him to Shwedagon Pagoda to calm down,
but Maung San Hmé could not see the Buddha image because of his large sin. Maung San Hmé
was ashamed and returned to the village.[4]
When he returned to the lake in a rage, he dropped gold leaves intended for the Shwedagon
Pagoda on his lake pillars. Ma Phae Wah became a nat and had no place to live, so she dreamed
and asked the abbot of the village monastery for help. The abbot allowed Ma Phae Wah to live in
the village cemetery. Ma Phae Wah guarded the cemetery as a spirit, while wearing a yellow
robe. Later Maung San Hmé died of drink and became a nat. He is called "Ta-pwe-sa Maung San
Hmé" and worshipped by fishermen.[4]

King Tharrawaddy declared the royal order to Ma Phae Wah as the guardian of the cemeteries
during his reign.[4]

Dream

In the late 1990s, Ma Phae Wah appeared in the dream of Tine Tayar Sayadaw, a prominent
Buddhist monk from Kayin State. He announced her intention to eat the flesh of babies. The
sayadaw suggested that she dine on dogs instead. Subsequently, security-conscious parents
sought to protect their infants by posting signs in front of their homes saying, “Baby’s flesh is
bitter, dog’s flesh is sweet”.[1]

See also

Nat (spirit)

Mythical creatures in Burmese folklore

References

1. Douglas Long (30 October 2015). "The Ghost Guide: 6 terrifying ghouls of Myanmar" (https://www.mmtim
es.com/lifestyle/17285-the-ghost-guide-6-terrifying-ghouls-of-myanmar.html) . The Myanmar Times.
Retrieved 24 August 2018.

2. "မဖဲဝါနှင့် အသပြာ တစ်သန်းတန် ဘော်လီပြဿနာ" (http://thevoicemyanmar.com/satire/3537-mfw) (in

Burmese). The Voice Weekly. 13 November 2016. Retrieved 24 August 2018.

3. တပွဲစားကြီး မောင်စံမှဲ့နှင့် သချႋုင်းစောင့် မဖဲဝါဖြစ်ပေါ်လာပုံ ဇာတ်ကြောင်း (http://www.saladmm.com/%E

1%80%90%E1%80%95%E1%80%BC%E1%80%B2%E1%80%85%E1%80%AC%E1%80%B8%E1%81%BE%E1%
80%80%E1%80%AE%E1%80%B8-%E1%80%B1%E1%80%99%E1%80%AC%E1%80%84%E1%80%B9%E1%8
0%85%E1%80%B6%E1%80%99%E1%80%BD%E1%80%B2%E1%82%94/)

4. ရောင်ပြန်မဂ္ဂဇင်း အမှတ် (၃၁၃): Yaung Pyan Megazines No.313 (https://books.google.com/books?id=Mzb

8DwAAQBAJ&dq=%E1%80%99%E1%80%96%E1%80%B2%E1%80%9D%E1%80%AB&pg=PA8) (in
 Burmese). InterGlobe Technology. 2020-04-01.

External links

Stories of Ma Phae Wah, Author by Tar Tay (http://www.mmbookdownload.com/author-tar-ta

y.html)

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title=Ma_Phae_Wah&oldid=1055860005"

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