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Thingyan Myanmar
Festivals
Myanmar
Water
Festival
Myanmar Trip
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Myanmar
water
festival,
Thingyan,
water
festival,
Myanmar
festivals,
travel in
Burma,
Myanmar
culture,
Myanmar trip,
Myanmar
festival
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- Myanmar Festivals
and a special
Myanmar festival, the water festival.
Asia and Myanmar is full of very
colorful and deep rooted
festivals.
Just think about all this
Chinese festivals,
Thai festivals, Malaysian
festivals, Philippine
festivals and so on,
celebrations, the Indian
multicultural festivals of
the different ethnic groups
and so on.
The same in Myanmar Burma,
we show here only the
most important festivals, there
are dozens other festivals.
To visit a festival around
the big cities like
Yangon,
Mandalay or so is no problem
since the hotels,
restaurants, accommodation
and infrastructure is ok.
The most festivals are
pagoda festivals, they are
on everyday somewhere in the
country at all pagoda
festivals one can see
beautiful
Buddha
Statues.
To visit a festival in a
rather remote area make sure
first to find a reasonable
hotel
or accommodation otherwise
you will have some problems,
the best is anyway to let a
experienced travel agent in
Yangon or Mandalay to do
this job, its really
necessary. If you still want
to be on your own but have a
problem to find
accommodation check with a
Myanmar monastery in that
area they let you stay there
for a night and don't forget
a donation when you depart.
The biggest
festival in the country is the water
festival in spring. Over
the centuries Myanmar or
Burma absorbed a lot of festivals from
other
countries, a typical example
is Diwali Festival, the
Indian festival of lights, Diwali Festival has a similar
value like any other festival in
Myanmar, its a holiday, shops
are closed, everyone is out
and happy. |
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Other Myanmar festivals are
similar to festivals in the countries around, a typical
example is the Myanmar water
festival, Thingyan in
Myanmar Burma, and Songkran in Thailand.
Taunggyi balloon festival,
thadingyut, thazaungdine ,taungbyone, thingyan,
water festival, Taunggyi
fire balloon festival.
-Thingyan Festival or Myanmar Nwe Year Water Festival
This festival is
known as Myanmar’s Traditional New Year Festival or the Water
Festival. Every Myanmar citizen is happy on this day and month.
There are twelve
months in Myanmar calendar too. The first month of each year
in Myanmar Burma is calculated from April and the last one is March.
According to Myanmar calendar, New Year Day falls on every
second week of April. There's a tradition in
Myanmar-Burma to celebrate the water festival all over the
country for 3 days |
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before
New Year day by throwing water on each other.
According to the
proofs and references, this sort of water
festival has been celebrated in Myanmar
since 500 years ago. In Myanmar this festival is
called
'Thingyan' means 'moving from
one year to another'. It is quite puzzling why
people throw water on one another during Thingyan
Festival in Myanmar-Burma.
More Myanmar festivals:
kite festivals,
music festivals, fairs
festivals, food festivals, balloon festivals, Indian festivals,
art festivals, folklore festivals, festival of lights, music festivals, celebrations, diwali festival, Taunggyi balloon festival, thadingyut, thazaungdine
, taungbyone, thingyan, water festival, Taunggyi
fire balloon festival. |
Thingyan or Water
festival at Yangon |
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According to the
ancient tradition of Myanmar or maybe not only Myanmar, they have committed sins the
whole year. There is also a belief in
Myanmar-Burma that these sins could be
washed away during the festival and purified both in mind and spirit by throwing one
another with Thingyan Water.
Thus everyone in Myanmar-Burma is happy with a belief that they would be completely innocent after they are
purified during the festival, physically and spiritually in the next year. As a meritorious
deed during the water festival, some youngsters in Myanmar-Burma
wash the hair of old people
and
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them too. Moreover, there's
also a custom in Myanmar-Burma to buy
live fish and cows during the festival and let
them loose in sanctuaries or rivers or
lakes on the final day of Thingyan Ah-Tet Day (the final day of
Thingyan).
This is a Myanmar
festival custom that concerns Myanmar religion. Most
of the Myanmar's believe in
Theravada Buddhism and so killing any living creature is a sinful act, so better be nice |
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at the festival. In
Thailand the
water festival or Songkran is very similar to the Myanmar water
festival, also almost the same date. Myanmar's will throw water
on everyone with the intention to purify their mind
and spirit, its really getting wet. Tourists who
visit.Myanmar during the water
festival will also get a wet experience. If you are
here at this time, you'll feel this great
atmosphere. May you be able to
visit Myanmar then and all your sins be purified with Thingyan
Water Festival.
Myanmar and
Thailand have adopted a couple of festivals from neighboring
countries, like the festival of lights - diwali or divali - from
India, in
Thailand Loi Kratong and others.
-The Regatta Festival on Kandawgyi or Royal Lake
When Myanmar was a monarchy, the royal regatta festival
was held in the month of Tawthalin (late
September) and it remains one of the twelve monthly festivals in the Myanmar
calendar. In those days the king of
Myanmar-Burma
and his entire court attended the regatta festivals,
with the royal barge often heading the other boats as they proceeded in regal
splendor down the river.
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Regatta Festival at the Kandawgyi or
Royal Lake floating the Royal Coach |
Music and song filled the
air
for the festival
in Myanmar-on those occasions, held not only for the entertainment of the
royal family, but also to evaluate the competitors,
as potential recruits for the King’s Navy
Races during the regatta festivals
provided the opportunity for Myanmar’s kings to reward and recognize the
skills of their troops and to review the strength of the naval forces. For the
spectators, royal races during the festival were an occasion to cheer and exhort their
favorite
teams in
Myanmar-Burma. Chronicles show that royal
regatta festivals were held
Myanmar-Burma
by eleven monarchs beginning
with King Anaukphetlun,
1605-28, and ending with King Thibaw. However, it seems quite likely that
every
Myanmar King hosted regatta festivals during his respective reign. |
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-Thadingyut: The Festival
of Lights at the end of Buddhist Lent
Thadingyut
(October) is the end of Buddhist lent in Myanmar-Burma. For the whole last three
months of the rainy season in
Myanmar-Burma, Sabbaths are kept by the laity,
young or old. It is the festival of lights on the full moon day.
For this festival houses and streets in cities and towns in
Myanmar-Burma are brilliant by
illuminated. Pagodas in
Myanmar-Burma are also crowded with people doing
meritorious deeds during the festival. The festivals is not only a time of joy
in Myanmar-Burma but also thanks
giving and paying homage to teachers parents and elders and
receive their blessing.
This Myanmar festival
is originated in the story of worldly beings welcoming back the Buddha with lights as He
descended from “ Thvatimsa”, the highest abode of the NATS
(
celestial beings) in
Myanmar-Burma. He spent the three months preaching to the
celestial beings headed by His mother who has died soon after
giving birth to Him and reincarnated as a “DEVA” by the name
of “Santussita”. It will be remembered that “Gautama
Buddha” after displaying unheard of miracles under the
“GANDA” mango tree, had disappeared
from that mango grove and gone to “Tavatimsa” and
spent the three months of rains-retreat. ”Tavatimsa”, the
celestial abode is on the top of Mount Meru which itself is a
celestial mountain with the legendary gold, sliver and ruby
stairways, and colorful lanterns held in the hands held in the
hands of the gods, lining up the descent of the Lord. During the
festivals nights fire balloons are also seen rising up and soaring
in the sky in Myanmar-Burma.
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-Tazaungdine Festival
Unsatisfied
yet with the fun of the lighting festival
Myanmar-Burma of Thadingyut, the
people start preparing for another lighting festival called Tazaungdine or Tazaungmon.
Tazaungmon
or
Tazaungdine (November)is the festivals month when
the Krattika planet (Pleiades) accompanies
the Moon in Myanmar-Burma, and when
Mahavinayaka awakes from his long slumber. It is a pre Buddhist
custom in Myanmar festivals to do homage to this deity on the Full Moon
night of Tazaungmon with offerings of incense, sweet-meats and
lights.
This
festival of Tazaungmon is an auspicious time for offering of
yellow robes to the monks in
Myanmar-Burma. The Buddha’s mother, reincarnated
as a god in Tavatimsa, perceived from her heavenly abode that
her son would soon
be discarding, the royal robes and wearing a monk’s garments.
She wanted to provide the yellow robes of the monk and she had
only a night’s time. But she had it woven in a
single night and offered to the Prince (Siddhartha) by a
celestial messenger. In commemoration of this event weaving
competitions of yellow
robes are held all over the country.
An
offering during the festival of Kathein thingan (ceremony for
offering of yellow robes) to the monks is usually a big affair
in large cities of Myanmar. During festivals offering ceremonies
consist of a thousand and one gifts pooled by whole town's in Myanmar-Burma beside the prime gift of Yellow robes.
The Kathein festivals in
Myanmar-Burma account for the |
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greatest significance in Tazaungmon.
Taunggyi
Fire Balloon Festival
at
Taunggyi, the
capital of Shan State in Myanmar, the people
celebrate the Tazaungdine festival with Kahtein (offering of
monk robes) as well as the releasing up fire-balloons into the
sky. Balloons in the shape of elephant, ox,
horse, water-buffalo, bird, pig, fish, owl and parrotare released
during the Myanmar-Burma festivals.
The Taunggyi fire
balloon festival is the biggest festival in
Myanmar. The festival is
attended not only by Taunggyi Citizens but also by people from
southern Shan
State and many different places of
Myanmar-Burma. Taungyi’s
Kahtein tradition festivals is amazing
and worthy of
reverence. |
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-Naga New Year Festival
The four main tribes and the 49 clans of
Myanmar Naga
have their settlements around the source of the
Chindwin River until up to the Indian boarder
and deep into India, read more.
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A high light in nearly all these festivals is the
performance of one of the great birth-stories of
the Buddha which tell the story of one of the
previous existences before he attained to Buddha
hood.
There are ten of these great zats or
awes all of
which are well known to Buddhists, and inculcate the
ten great virtues to be cultivated by all who are
striving to reach Nirvana.
These plays
are very long and take all night to perform.
They are very like the mystery plays of
mediaeval times in Europe and combined a good deal of broad humor as well as
religious teaching. Nowadays, however, the tendency
is to substitute modern plays which have not the
same religious interest as the old well-loved
birth-stories. |
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all at e-books
  
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Myanmar
Festivals,
Thingyan,
water
festival,
Myanmar
water
festival,
Thingyan,
water
festival,
Myanmar
festivals,
travel in
Burma, Myanmar
culture,
Myanmar trip,
Myanmar festival
|
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Myanmar
Festivals |
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