Monks are returning to the biggest city, Rangoon for the Buddhist lent and further studies. They lost lent and an academic year because of last September's monk led demonstrations. But the numbers are less compared to before the demonstration.

Monks from various part of Burma are being accepted back to the monasteries where they studied last year before the bloody crack down by the ruling junta for demanding political change and checking the economic crisis in the country.

But a rumor is doing the rounds among monk students that some abbots are not accepting monks involved in the demonstrations.

"This is not true. Most abbots are accepting students and many have returned for further studies. We are opening the doors and welcoming them," an abbot in Rangoon said over telephone.

According to a donor, the monks are increasing in numbers slowly.

"Many new monks arrived in Moulmein for further studies. The new ones are from Rangoon because their former abbots in the biggest city did not accept them. So they moved to Moulmein ," a student monk in Moulmein told IMNA.

According to an abbot in Rangoon , the number of students is still less. A majority of the monks could not sit for last year's academic examinations because the government ordered them to return to their hometowns to control the monk led demonstration.

Dozens of monasteries in Rangoon were cracked down upon by troops and hundreds of monks and people were arrested. Many arrested monks disrobed and changed to life as common people.

The brutal crackdown made many monks leave Rangoon . But monks are still proving that they are ahead of the community in helping Cyclone Nargis victims.