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History of the Birman These lovely cats have long, soft, creamy white fur with colour point markings, pure white paws and bright blue eyes.
To appreciate the legend that is about to be told, one must visualise the beautiful temples in the ancient land of Burma. The magnitude of the Buddha idols helps to impress upon us the deep religious faith of the people. Their belief in the reincarnation of souls and their deep respect and love of their priests, provide the setting of the legend. Their watchful and loving care of the 100 white temple cats is due to their belief that the priests are returned to the temple in the form of the sacred cats of Burma known as Birman cats. The origin of the white gloved feet and the colouring goes back to before the birth of Christ.
Centuries ago the Khmer people of Asia built beautiful temples of worship to pay homage to their gods. The temple of Loa-Tsun housed a beautiful golden goddess with sapphire blue eyes, who watched over the transmutation of souls. Mun-Ha, one of the most beloved of priests whose beard was braided with gold by the great god Son-Hio, often knelt in meditation before the golden goddess Tsun-Kyan-Kse. Sinh, a beautiful and faithful white temple cat was always at his side. As the priest prayed the cat would gaze at the brilliant goddess.
One night, as the moon rose and Mun-Ha was kneeling before the sacred goddess, raiders attacked the temple and Mun-Ha was killed. At the moment of his death, his loyal cat, Sinh, placed his feet upon his fallen master and faced the golden goddess. Immediately the hairs of his white body changed to gold from the light radiating from the lovely golden goddess - her beautiful blue eyes became his and his four white legs shaded downwards to a velvety brown, but where his feet rested gently on his dead master, the whiteness remained, thus denoting their purity.
Since that time the followers of Buddhism guard very carefully and gently the sacred ones within whose bodies they believe live their beloved priests. The people lived peacefully until the advent of Brahminisn. The Brahmins felt that the Kittahs (priests) were practising a false religion, so they raided the temples and killed many priests.
At this time two men, August Pavie and Major Russel-Gordan journeyed from France to Burma. They were able to penetrate the temple and bring protection to the lost Kittahs against the aggressive Brahmins. It was then that they saw the sacred cats and learned of the legend.
Many of the Kittah priests escaped across the mountains into Tibet, taking with them their sacred cats. There they rebuilt their temple which is a marvel of Indo-China. The two men returned to France and because of the great love the people of Burma had for these men who had protected them from their enemies, they sent a pair of sacred cats from the temple of Loa-Tsun to France is 1919. The ocean trip proved tragic however, as the male cat died. But, upon arrival it was found that the female cat was pregnant and this the breed survived and became recognised in France in 1925.
They have of course changed a lot due to selective breeding which results in the lovely cat you see today - also to receive the many wonderful colour points which are now available.
These cats have a wonderful temperament. They are sweet and gentle, very loving, with a small voice. They walk with a tiger like gait and are truly beautiful to behold.
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