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|  Although some may expect the Burmese to be the sacred cat of Burma, that Honour goes to the BIRMAN and in fact the word Birman is derived from the French spelling of Burma, Bir manie because it was the french who first introduced the birman to the cat fancy back in 1965 and it wasnt until 1966 they were officially recognised and given the breed number 13c. Before the time when Christ walked the earth, and even the time before Buddha and ancient people called the Khmer lived in the southeast Asian country once called Burma and now called Myanmar. The Khmer believed in the magical abilty of animals to ward off malevolence and evil forces. In the temple of Lao-Tsun on the slopes of the Lugh there lived 100 golden-eyed Temple cats with white long hair. The cats bore the souls of Kittah, or Khmer priests, after they had departed this life and awaited rebirth as the high priest in order to attain purity and perfection.
In the temple lived the golden-bearded Grand Lama of all the Kittah. His entire life was devoted to worshipping Tsun-kyan-kse the goddess in the golden robes with brilliant blue eyes who presided over  the transformation of priestly souls as they left one life and entered the next.
One clear evening the honourable Mun Ha sat before the goddess in prayer. Next to him sat his devoted cat, Sinh who was one of the white cats that resided in the temple. Like the other cats, Sinh had eyes that were golden as the robes of the goddess and his ears, nose, tail and tips of his feet were dark as the colour of the earth, a symbol of the impurity of all that touches the ground. That evening, as Mun ha prayed invaders from Siam (the land is now called Thailand) entered the Temple killing Mun Ha on his Throne. Because Mun ha could no longer direct his gaze to eternal Goddess, Sinh put out his paws on his noble master and faced the statue of Tsun-kyan-kse. As Sinh contemplated the Goddess, a miraculous transformation took place. As the other kittah that had gathered around men he watched, Sinhs hair turned the colour of the golden mist that matched the colour of Tsun-kyan-kse robes. His eyes became the blazing sapphire blue as those of the Goddess, and his paws became pure white to the point where they were covered by his masters holy garments.
As Sinh faced the entrance of the Temple his gaze turned to the bronze doors. When the kittahs realized the meaning of the Sinhs gaze, they rushed to the doors and closed them, thus saving the Temple from being plundered by the invaders from Siam,
Sinh continued to sit on Mun Ha's throne for seven days contemplating Tsun-Kyan-Kse. On the seventh day he died, taking the pure and perfect soul of his master with him. Seven days later, the Kittah assembled in front of Tsun-Kyan-Kse statue to select Mun Has's successor. All of the Temple cats gathered there with them. As the priests prayed the hair of the cats turned a Golden colour as Sinh's hair done. Their eyes became the brilliant blue of the Goddess, and the paws on all feet turned pure white, Silently the cats that possessed the souls of the temple departed Kittah gathered around the youngest kittah and chose him as Mun Ha's successor from that day forward the sacred cats of Burma had coats of Golden mist, eyes of sapphire blue and feet as white as pure as fallen snow.
Although the history of the Birman is still unclear it has not affected the popularity of the Breed.
The Siamese and the long haired bi-colour Angora are suspected of being responsible of the Birmans origin. Both breeds carried the genes for point colour, white spotting and long hair.
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