U Shin Gyi ( my, ဦးရှင်ကြီး, or , ; also Lord of the Sea or Conqueror of the Salty Sea) is a Burmese ''nat'' commonly venerated in the

Ayeyarwady Delta The Irrawaddy Delta or Ayeyarwady Delta lies in the Irrawaddy Division, the lowest expanse of land in Myanmar that fans out from the limit of tidal influence at Myan Aung to the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea, to the south at the mouth of the A ...

region, as he is widely believed to be a benevolent guardian spirit of waterways. He is commonly depicted next to a

tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus '' Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on ...

and

crocodile Crocodiles (family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term crocodile is sometimes used even more loosely to include all extant ...

, and is often holding a

Burmese harp The ''saung'' (Burmese: စောင်း, MLCTS caung: ; also known as the ''saung-gauk'' ( စောင်းကောက်), Burmese harp, Burma harp, or Myanmar harp), is an arched harp used in traditional Burmese music. The saung is r ...

, as he was originally a harpist from Kasin village in

Bago Bago may refer to: Places Myanmar * Bago, Myanmar, a city and the capital of the Bago Region * Bago District, a district of the Bago Region * Bago Region an administrative region * Bago River, a river * Bago Yoma or Pegu Range, a mountain range ...

. According to one version of his story, while on an expedition to find food, U Shin Gyi and fellow lumberjacks landed on Meinmahla Island, and his harp-playing enticed two nat sisters, who did not allow the boat to depart the island until they were appeased. U Shin Gyi allowed himself to drown, pleasing the spirits, and in return he became a nat. A nat festival is held in his honor every March.http://www.myanmar.gov.mm/myanmartimes/no52/timeout_4-1.htm

References

{{Burmese nats Burmese nats Culture of Myanmar Deaths by drowning