A group of armed men in three vehicles raided Thamanya Hill on Tuesday and fled with the enshrined body of revered Abbot Sayadaw Vinaya, according to residents in Hpa-an Township in Karen State.
The body of Sayadaw Vinaya, known as Thamanya Sayadaw, who died at age 93 in 2003, was taken by a group of armed men wearing camouflage uniforms around 12 o’clock pm on Tuesday night, A Hpa-an resident told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday.
Thamanya Sayadaw (Photo: Nic Dunlop/The Irrawaddy)“The armed group detained the lay attendants in a room,” said the resident.
The body of Sayadaw Vinaya, enshrined on Thamanya Hill about 100 miles east of Rangoon, had been placed in a glass coffin as a holy relic since the abbot died.
Residents from Thamanya Hill said they had no idea why the body was taken from the site.
Thamanya Sayadaw was renowned and respected for his integrity and generous donations to local development projects. Among the Burmese people he was known for leading development projects, including road construction. Thamanya Sayadaw also built schools and pagodas through donations that he received as one of the country’s leading teachers.
A strict vegetarian, he was known to be a supporter and a spiritual adviser to pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Suu Kyi, who visited Thamanya mountain in 1995 to pay homage to the Sayadaw Vinaya when she was freed after six years of house arrest. She visited him again in June 2002 after being released from 19 months in detention.
When the Sayadaw was alive, he declared the area surrounding his temple a "peace zone" despite both anti-Rangoon Karen soldiers and Burmese military troops operating in the area. He forbade fighting in the zone, and visitors were required to discard all non-vegetarian food before entering the area.
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