By JOCELYN GECKER Associated Press
YANGON, Myanmar February 22, 2012 (AP)

Gongs chimed as thousands of people in ceremonial costumes walked barefoot Wednesday through the marble walkways of Myanmar's most sacred Buddhist shrine in an annual festival that was banned for more than 20 years under the former military government.

The celebrations at the gold-plated, diamond-studded Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon mark the 2,600-year anniversary of the Buddha's enlightenment. The fact that authorities are allowing it to be held at all this year is the latest sign of new freedoms trickling into this long-repressed country.

Shwedagon has been used before as a rallying point for anti-government protesters, and the former junta feared large groups gathering in the streets, even when they were not demonstrating.

More: http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/festival-returns-myanmars-shwedagon-pagoda-15762064#.T0SjeV2Rl_k