About 20,000 people, led by thousands of Buddhist monks, have marched in Burma's main city of Yangon in an escalating show of dissent against the military government.
The monks, joined by Buddhist 150 nuns, were followed by supporters as they marched from the golden Shwedagon Pagoda, Burma's most important landmark.
It is the sixth consecutive day of protest in the nation's commercial hub.
The march was by far the biggest protest in Yangon since anti-government demonstrations broke out five weeks ago following a massive hike in fuel prices that left many unable to afford even a bus ride to work.
The demonstrations have snowballed into the most serious challenge to the ruling junta in nearly two decades.
The protestors were emboldened after a march yesterday to see Burma's detained democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi.
Analysts in Thailand say this was a landmark moment for the protest movement, but suspect the military's low-key reaction aims to take the steam out of the marches.
In an unprecedented move, the army on allowed about 2,000 young monks and civilians to pass a roadblock and gather by the lakeside Yangon house that has been Aung San Suu Kyi's prison for 12 of the past 18 years.
The 62-year-old has become an internationally recognised symbol of non-violent political change since her National League for Democracy won 1990 elections by a landslide.
The military never recognised the result and tried to silence Aung San Suu Kyi by keeping her under house arrest.
Burma Action Ireland has called on the UN Security Council to intervene immediately to negotiate an end to month-long protests over fuel price rises and to restore democratically elected government to population of over 50m.
