The Hintha Bird Legend
The Hintha bird — a mythical golden goose or Brahminy duck — is the sacred emblem of the Mon people and the symbol of Bago (Pegu) Region in Myanmar. According to Mon Buddhist legend, the Hintha bird was the Bodhisatta (a previous incarnation of the Buddha) in the form of a wise golden goose. In the Jataka tale of the Hintha Bird, a pair of Hintha birds lived on a golden lake in the Himalayas. The king of the birds taught the creatures of the lake important moral lessons about non-attachment and the dangers of pride. The Hintha tradition also tells the story of how the Mon people, guided by a p