Mang Po To was eaten by a tiger, Mintha Maung Shin fell to his death from a swing, and instead of putting down a rebellion, She Sit Thin squandered his time cockfighting and was subsequently buried alive by his furious father. Even more peculiar was the passing of King Mingaun, who succumbed to a combination of dysentery and "the strong smell of onions."
All the above individuals are unquestionably dead, but live on as nats -- powerful and potentially malevolent Burmese goblins or spirits.
Although Myanmar (as Burma is now known) is devoutly Buddhist, bristles with pagodas and boasts at least half a million registered monks, the 37 major nats (not to mention countless thousands of minor nats) still exert a potent grip on the popular imagination.
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