Sri Sri Durga Bari Temple Yangon,Myanmar (Burma)

Durga Bari Temple is very popular with the Bengalis of Myanmar and during the ten day Durga puja festival devotees from all parts of Myanmar come to attend the festivities.

This temple is around 127 years old. It was built around 1888. Our two main founders were Shri Soshi Bhuson Neogi & Shri Nimai Charan Sinha whose pictures have been displayed outside the temple just at the entrance. In January, 2013, we had our 125 years celebration for six days when day and night feeding was done for all those who participated in the festivities and events. India’s present president Shri Pranab Mukherjee had come here to this temple when he was the finance minister.

Durga Bari is one of the oldest temples of Myanmar. Today there are approximately 10,000 Hindu Bengalis in Myanmar. Like other Indians many left Myanmar in the sixties. Though Durga Bari in Yangon is the main temple of the Bengali community, there are many other temples that the community has all over Myanmar. Durga Bari in Yangon is very centrally located and the location is also very prestigious, it is just opposite the secretariat building.
We celebrate main Hindu festivals and every Saturday we have a special puja. Our youth also participates in the festivals and it is our duty to pass on our culture and tradition to them. Bengali youth have a body of their own which does social work as well. Every Sunday some of these youth also come and participate in the puja. Out of the total of ten thousand Bengalis in Myanmar half of them or 5,000 are in Yangon. Some of these Bengalis are in trade and business and some others are also in the profession of barber.
Due to the central location of our temple and also its huge hall and other facilities, besides organizing festivals, the temple premises is also given to the members of the Hindu community for organizing their social family functions including marriages. In fact it is made available to all the Indian community to hold their social functions.
Hindu community in Myanmar including Bengalis is living here in a peaceful manner and we do not face very many problems. Overall we are doing very well. You will see a large number of Burmese people visiting our Hindu temples all over Myanmar. The main reason behind this is that their prayers are answered and wishes are granted by our Hindu gods and that then further strengthens their belief in them. Because of this they come to our temples again and again. A large number of Tamil Hindu community is also there in Myanmar.
During the major festivals Benaglis from all over Myanmar come here to Durga Bari Temple. Durga puja, Kali puja, Saraswati puja and many other festivals are celebrated by us here. In Bangla there is a saying that in twelve months there are thirteen festivals. So we have a large number of festivals and they are all celebrated by us. This temple is the main centre of activities for the Bengalis of Myanmar.
There is a caste system but here in Myanmar it is not followed. We also try to learn and preserve our music and dance through the youth.