Tipitaka exam

As someone who frequently forgets his own pin number, I found this thing very impressive. The Maha Pasana Cave in north Yangon is a modern amphitheatre clad with a cave-effect concrete façade, entering it is like descending into a Bond villain's lair. Inside were mid-level and senior monks taking their Tipitaka examination which, I learned from some Vietnamese monks who'd come to witness the event, is a test in which sitters are expected to recite from memory four holy books in their entirety. Two examiners are needed, one to check they don't mess up and another to keep an eye on the first. The only sound was the soporific murmur of monks in deep meditation. Surprisingly no-one minded my being there but the shutter click seemed to echo off the walls.