Nat ceremonies
Description: Nat ceremonies
Theravada Buddhism is an easy concept to live by, as one is entirely responsible for one's own salvation. Thus, people with weak wills or greed for more wealth worship spirits that they believe will bestow good fortune.
In Buddhist lore, spirits or Nat exist in many forms such as celestials or guardians of the faith, cities or villages or even for each individual.
The pantheon of 37 Spirits worshipped by semi-animists are also called Nat but of a different kind. Most of the 37 Spirits met violent deaths as humans and by strong emotions of bitterness or anger could not pass through to their next life but remain in a limbo.
Communications between spirits and human are conducted by mediums known as Nat Kadaw, Honoured Wife of the Nat, who are in fact married to a Nat in a special ceremony Other mediums attach themselves to the spirit world by becoming younger brothers for most mediums nowadays are transvestites. It is a niche profession where they excel with campy style.
There are a number of annual festivals held throughout the country according to the Nat of the region. The most important is the Taung Pyone Festival, named after the village near Mandalay where it is held in September or August according to the Myanmar lunar calendar Here the rituals honour the two Taung Pyone brothers, Min Gyi and Min Galay over ten days and soon after that a ceremony at Amarapura honours their mother; the Popa Goddess.
Private ceremonies arranged by Nat Kadaw on behalf of their clients are mostly held by the side of a road or in a cleared public space. A temporary bamboo shelter with open sides is erected and draped with red bunting. Carpets or mats cover the ground and a row of high platforms are built to place the Nat images and before them, offerings of food and ritual fruits and flowers. Anyone can stop to watch for a moment or for the whole day The ceremonies must be held for at least three days.
The Lord of the Mountain or Min Maha Giri, is the guardian of homes, towns and cities. In private residences, his shrine is a blemish free green coconut with its stem intact, hung in a corner near and below the shrine to the Lord Buddha. The coconut is tied with strips of red and white cotton. When dry, it is replaced with a fresh coconut. Candles are never offered to this shrine as the spirit died in a fire.
Book Title : Myanmar Hotels & Tourism Directory 2007-2008.