Ko Myo Shin

Statue of Ko Myo Shin at a shrine in Mount Popa.

Ko Myo Shin (Burmese: ကိုးမြို့ရှင်; lit. 'Lord of the Nine Towns')^[1] is a Burmese nat (deity) and the guardian spirit of the Bago Region. He is widely venerated in the Central Myanmar and is considered one of the most powerful nats outside the official pantheon of the 37 nats.^[2] Devotees worship him for protection, success in business, and safe travel.

Ko Myo Shin's legend is often conflated with that of Ko Thein Shin, another nat and the guardian spirit of the Kyaukse hill region. This has led to confusion in many scholarly accounts, with the two legends sometimes being merged.^[3][4]

Legends

According to legend, Ko Myo Shin was the son of Min Hla Sithu, the ruler of Padaung Kingdom (present-day Pyay), and his consort Kuni Devi. He was heir apparent and was granted the appanage of nine towns, from which he came to be known as Ko Myo Shin ('Lord of the Nine Towns'). He also had a younger sister named Pale Yin.^[5]

During this period, Saw Thiha, the saopha of Kengtawng, revolted against Sao Khun Kyi, the saopha of Mong Ping, who was a tributary of Min Hla Sithu. In response, Saw Thiha requested military assistance from Min Hla Sithu to secure his position. Min Hla Sithu ordered his son Ko Myo Shin, along with Min Kyawzwa, his adopted son and military commander, to intervene in support of Mong Ping.^[5]

By the time their forces reached Mong Ping, Sao Khun Kyi had died, and the state had already fallen to Saw Thiha. The Padaung army subsequently subdued Mong Ping, deposed Saw Thiha, and installed a new ruler. The late Sao Khun Kyi had two underage sons named Hkuncho and Hkuntha, who were brought back to Padaung for protection. When they arrived in Padaung, Min Kyawzwa requested that Min Hla Sithu allow him to adopt the Shan brothers Hkuncho and Hkuntha. Ko Myo Shin also sought to adopt them. However, the king feared that if the brothers were adopted by Min Kyawzwa, who was known as a heavy drinker and gambler, they might follow in his ways. On the other hand, if he granted the adoption to Ko Myo Shin, Min Kyawzwa might become resentful. In order to settle the dispute, the king granted Min Kyawzwa the appanage of Pakhan and adopted the Shan brothers in favor of Pale Yin. From that moment, Min Kyawzwa harbored resentment toward the king.^[5][6]

When Hkuncho and Hkuntha came of age, Min Kyawzwa petitioned the king to allow the two Shan princes to administer Shan State for about three years in order to suppress ongoing rebellions. The king granted permission, and the Shan brothers departed for Shan State. One night, however, Min Kyawzwa and his followers attacked the royal palace and assassinated the king and his consort, Kuni Devi. During the assault, Ko Myo Shin escaped with his younger sister, Pale Yin, and fled to his ally, the headman of Kyaukhtet village. They lived there in obscurity while in hiding. Ko Myo Shin left his younger sister in the care of a wealthy headman's household while he set out in search of Hkuncho and Hkuntha. During that time, Pale Yin was betrothed to the headman's son, Maung Lat, and later gave birth to a daughter named Thel Thel Lay.^[5][3]

When Hkuncho and Hkuntha returned to the kingdom, Min Kyawzwa explained that the throne was seized for them, as he himself had grown too old and wished to renounce monastic and dharma affairs, and that the throne would be handed to the two brothers. After persuading and deceiving them in this way, he made them swear an oath to follow his command. After swearing the oath, Hkuncho and Hkuntha were commanded to find Ko Myo Shin and behead him. Because they had sworn loyalty, the brothers searched for him. They eventually found Ko Myo Shin in a forest. Out of love for their foster father, they refused to strike him and explained everything to Ko Myo Shin. Moved by their filial affection, Ko Myo Shin himself sacrificed his head to fulfill the oath.^[5]

After becoming a nat, Ko Myo Shin visited his younger sister, Pale Yin, and discovered that she had broken her promise not to marry. Heartbroken by her broken vow, Ko Myo Shin took his sister with him to the spirit world, and Pale Yin also became a nat. In the official legend, Ko Myo Shin's father, Min Hla Sithu, who had died earlier and also become a nat, ordered his son to guard the towns and villages that had once been his princely estate.^[5] Another version tells it differently: King Min Kyawzwa, afraid of Ko Myo Shin's revenage, made him guardian of the Nine Towns to quiet his restless spirit. But revenge could not be stopped. Ko Myo Shin brought down a champak tree on Min Kyawzwa's mansion, killing him, his mother Shwegaing Medaw, and the mansion keeper, U Nyo; all three later became nats. In the official legend, however, the tree-cutting was the work of Hkuncho and Hkuntha, who themselves were slain by Min Kyawzwa.^[7]

A different legend recorded during the colonial period identifies Ko Myo Shin with another nat, Aungzwamagyi, who served faithfully under King Narapatisithu. After being unjustly executed, he became a nat, and the king ordered the nine Shan Sawbwas to build a shrine in his honor and pay homage. In this version, Ko Myo Shin Aungzwamagyi is portrayed as a loyal guardian spirit of the Burmese kings, even aiding them in achieving military victories during a Burmese invasion of Siam.^[8]

In Kachin State, Ko Myo Shin is sometimes equated with Sao Sam Long Hpa, a legendary Shan hero and former ruler of Mogaung (Mong Kawng). Like Ko Myo Shin, Sao Sam Long Hpa was betrayed and met an unjust death, after which he became the guardian spirit of his region. As a result of this identification, Ko Myo Shin was reinterpreted in Shan cultural contexts and portrayed as a Shan nat.^[8]

Conflations

Ko Myo Shin is often conflated with Ko Thein Shin, the guardian spirit of the Kyaukse Nine Agricultural Districts. The confusion mainly stems from their names, both beginning with "Ko" (nine), which has led to errors in several scholarly accounts. Actually, they are distinct deities: Ko Myo Shin originates from the Burmese plains, while Ko Thein Shin hails from the Shan States. Because Ko Myo Shi's legend has become intertwined with that of Ko Thein Shin, some sources mistakenly identify him as a Shan nat, and he is even venerated in certain Shan regions as a traditional Shan deity.^[3][9] A 1975 film even depicted Ko Myo Shin as the patron spirit of Shan State.^[10]

Adoption in Shan traditions

Shan village guardian spirits are traditionally unnamed and unpictured. But lately, pictures of Ko Myo Shin have been donated and put in Shan shrines that didn't have any before. A named, personified spirit from the Burmese cultural realm has replaced an unnamed, imageless local spirit, according to this phenomenon. The original nameless guardian spirit, Bo Bo Gyi (lit. 'Big Grandfather'), has been replaced in a shrine in Hsipaw by new images of Ko Myo Shin and his sister, who are now the main focus of worship.^[8]

Worship

His shrines can be found throughout Myanmar, especially in the central Myanmar and Shan State. His most notable shrines are located in Taunggyi and Pyin Oo Lwin. He is also enshrined in the Kuni Shrine in Pakhan, Magway Region where Min Kyawzwa is venerated as the main deity.^[11] One of his major shrines is located in Tachileik; it was built in the 1960s and is highly revered in that region. The older shrine was renovated by locals in 2013.^[12]

In Pyin Oo Lwin, there is also a major shrine dedicated to him. A strange tradition at the Defence Services Academy (DSA) requires officer cadets to pay respects to the nats at the Ko Myo Shin shrine five days before their graduation. This ritual is believed to ensure a prosperous and successful military career.^[13]

When passing spirit shrines at town and village entrances, drivers frequently honk their horns and show respect while making offerings of candles, cigarettes, and betel nuts. People also present aung thabyay (laurel branches) at the Ko Myo Shin shrine when buying or selling cars or other goods. The novice monks are customarily brought before the Ko Myo Shin shrine as part of the Shinbyu (novitiation) ceremonies.^[14]

In popular culture

Ko Myo Shin was depicted in the 1957 film Ko Myo Shin, directed by Saya Myint.^[10]

References

1. "Nat Religion Glossary | Burmese Spirit Mediumship". Hawksites.newpaltz.edu.
2. ဒို့သွေး ဒို့သား တိုင်းရင်းဘွား [Our blood, our children, and our ancestral lineage] (in Burmese). Praññʻ toṅʻ su yañʻ kyeʺ mhu pra khanʻʺ Komītī. 1967.
3. Brac De La Perrière, Bénédicte (1 July 2002). "Sibling Relationships in the Nat Stories of the Burmese Cult to the "Thirty-seven"". Moussons. Recherche en Sciences Humaines Sur l'Asie du Sud-Est (5): 40–45. doi:10.4000/moussons.2670. ISSN 1620-3224.
4. Perrière, Bénédictine Brac de la (January 1996). "The Burmese Nats: Between Sovereignty and Autochthony". Diogenes. 44 (174): 45–60. doi:10.1177/039219219604417404. ISSN 0392-1921.
5. Temple, Sir Richard Carnac (1981). မြန်မာ့မိရိုးဖလာဓလေ့ နတ်သမိုင်း: ၃၇ မင်း မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ၌ကျင့်သုံးသော နတ်ပူဇော်သောဓလေ့များ [Myanmar Folk Traditions and Nat History: The 37 Lords and the Nat Worship Practices in Myanmar] (in Burmese). Cā pe Mitʻ chve Cā pe. pp. 152–157.
6. မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ နတ်ကိုးကွယ်မှုသမိုင်း [History of Nat Worship in Myanmar] (in Burmese). Mraṅʻʹ Chve Cā ʼupʻ Tuikʻ. 1992.
7. Bamford, Sally Jane (2017). Hidden in Plain Sight: The Nat Images of Myanmar (Thesis). Australian National University. pp. 158–159.
8. TAKATANI, Michio. "An Anthropological Analysis of Burmanization of the Shan" (PDF). Library.tsri.or.th. Hiroshima University': 1–4.
9. Hayashi, Yukio (2000). Dynamics of Ethnic Cultures Across National Boundaries in Southwestern China and Mainland Southeast Asia: Relations, Societies, and Languages. Lanna Cultural Center, Rajabhat Institute. ISBN 978-974-7791-18-1.
10. Ferguson, Jane M. (31 March 2024). Silver Screens and Golden Dreams: A Social History of Burmese Cinema. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 978-0-8248-9726-0.
11. "ကိုကြီးကျော်ဆီ အလည်တခေါက်" [A Visit to Ko Gyi Kyaw]. The Irrawaddy. 2 February 2019.
12. "တာချီလိတ်၌ "အဘ ကိုးမြို့ရှင် ပြည်သူ့နတ်နန်း"သစ် တည်ဆောက်မှု စတင်" [Construction begins on the new People's ‘Father Koe Myo Shin Nat Shrine’ in Tachileik]. Tachileik News Agency (in Burmese).
13. "ဗိုလ်လောင်းကို နတ်ပြရခြင်း" [Presenting cadets to the Nat]. The Irrawaddy (in Burmese). 3 August 2011.
14. ၁၂ ပွဲစျေးသည်နှင့် ကျွန်မတို့အညာ [The Twelve Festival Merchants and Our Dry Zone] (in Burmese). Krīʺ pvāʺ reʺ Cā ʼupʻ Tuikʻ. 2002. p. 57.