Table of Contents
What holidays do Burmese people celebrate?
The list of public holidays in Myanmar is as follows:
- January 1 – International New Year’s Day.
- January 4 – Independence Day.
- February 12 – Union Day.
- March (dates vary) – Full Moon of Tabaung.
- March 2 – Peasants’ Day.
- March 27 – Tatmadaw (Armed Forces) Day.
- April (dates vary) – Thingyan Water Festival.
What are the famous festival in Myanmar?
Some of the traditional festivals in Myanmar are: Thingyan Festival. Kachin Manaw Festival. Kyaikhtiyo Thadingyut Festival.
What are some Burmese traditions?
Nat Worship. As well as Buddhism, most people in Myanmar adhere to a traditional, uniquely Burmese religion based around the worship of nature spirits, or ‘Nats’. Representing human flaws or vices, there are 36 Nats in the officially sanctioned pantheon, for which you’ll find shrines in most large Buddhist temples.
How is Thingyan celebrated?
Padauk blooms only one day each year during Thingyan and is popularly known as the “Thingyan flower”. Large crowds of revellers, on foot, bicycles and motorbikes, and in trucks, will do the rounds of all the mandat, some making their own music and most of the women wearing thanaka and padauk.
What is nat worship?
Practitioners of nat worship believe that everything in the world is governed by nats, or spirits. Places, people, trees, rocks and areas of life are all associated with particular spirits – and not all of them benign.
Does Burma have religious freedom?
The constitution guarantees every citizen “the right to freely profess and practice religion subject to public order, morality, or health and to the other provisions of this Constitution.” The law prohibits speech or acts insulting or defaming any religion or religious beliefs.
Why do we celebrate Thingyan?
Understanding Thingyan Water festival is the most significant annual festival on the Myanmar calendar; it marks the start of the New Year, the beginning of the Myanmar lunar calendar and celebrates life and rebirth.
What is not allowed in Myanmar?
You should remove shoes and socks before entering a pagoda or monastery. Under Myanmar law, insulting religion is a prosecutable offence. Insulting religion is a broad term, and can include any disrespectful depiction or image (including tattoos) of Buddha or other religious representation.
What do Burmese people worship?
Most of the Burmese population identify as Buddhist (87.9%). However, there are also significant minorities of Christians (6.2%) and Muslims (4.3%), as well as some Animists (0.8%) and Hindus (0.5%). Generally speaking, one’s religious identity is related to ethnic origins.
What are nats in Burmese?
nat, in Burmese folk religion, any of a group of spirits that are the objects of an extensive, probably pre-Buddhist cult; in Thailand a similar spirit is called phi. Most important of the nats are a group collectively called the “thirty-seven,” made up of spirits of human beings who have died violent deaths.
What religion are most Burmese?
Nearly 88% of Myanmar’s population identify themselves as Buddhist, with other religious denominations, such as Christians, Muslims, and Hindus, making up the rest.
What are the major holidays in Myanmar?
Union Day is celebrated on February 12 every year and continues to be a notable Myanmar holiday on which most businesses have the day off work. One of Myanmar’s most important holidays, the Full Moon of Thadingyut is also known as the Festival of Light and marks the end of Buddhist lent.
What are the Burmese traditional festivals?
Burmese traditional festivals are based on the traditional Burmese calendar and dates are largely determined by the moon’s phase. Burmese culture is most evident in villages where local festivals are held throughout the year, the most important being the pagoda festival. ^ Tsaya (1886).
What are the two types of days in the Burmese calendar?
The calendar recognises two types of day: astronomical and civil. The mean Burmese astronomical day is from midnight to midnight, and represents 1/30th of a synodic month or 23 hours, 37 minutes and 28.08 seconds. The civil day comprises two halves, the first half beginning at sunrise and the second half at sunset.
When is the New Year’s day of Burmese calendar?
In the 20th century, the New Year’s Day fell on 15 or 16 April but in the 17th century, it fell on 9 or 10 April. As a result, the New Year’s Day of Burmese calendar does not have to fall on the first day of the first month of Tagu; in fact, it almost never does fall on the first waxing of Tagu.