This oral narrative was collected by the students exploring the word concept - belief

In U Pein Bridge, our group interviewed a second-year law student from Yadanabon University which is located near U Pein Bridge. She shared a story which she had learnt from her grandparents:

“We believe that Taungthaman Bo Bo gyi is the guardian spirit of the village. Now there is a pole erected in the middle of the Bridge to mark his death. It is known as Thet-pyauk-taing .

The guardian spirit was killed by a tiger one day. Kyar is used for tiger in Myanmar language. Even now we don’t use the word ‘kyar’ commonly. My grandparents told me that the guardian spirit eats a person annually. We take note when someone dies after crossing the bridge ... afterall the guardian spirit died in the middle of the Taunghtaman lake.

Also, long ago, this whole place was a forest; and U-Pein bridge and Tangthaman Inn were not developed even though people had settled around this area. If anyone wanted to cross to the other side, they had to cross the forest and the stream.”