Meaning “elegant music”, Nha Nhac refers to a broad range of musical and dance styles performed at the Vietnamese royal court from the fifteenth to the mid-twentieth century. Nha Nhac was generally featured at the opening and closing of ceremonies associated with anniversaries, religious holidays, coronations, funerals and official receptions. Nha Nhac shares a nationwide scope and strong links with the traditions of other East Asian countries. Nha Nhac performances formerly featured numerous singers, dancers and musicians dressed in sumptuous costumes. Large-scale orchestras included a prominent drum section and many other types of percussion instruments as well as a variety of wind and string instruments. All performers had to maintain a high level of concentration since they were expected to follow each step of the ritual meticulously. Throughout historical transitions, Nha Nhac’s cultural context and functions have shifted. Beside its re-enacted performances for spectacle purpose, Nha Nhac music and its expressions are viable and relevant to local communities in Thua Thien Hue, especially in festive events and ceremonies, such as festival, funeral, ancestral worshipping ritual, and birthday anniversary.

Viet Nam 2008

Noken is a knotted net bag or woven bag made from wood fibre or leaves, sometimes coloured and decorated. Noken is a traditional handcraft of all communities of Papua and West Papua Provinces, Indonesia. The day-to-day function of large size noken is for carrying plantation produce, catch from the sea or lake, wood, babies, small animals, shopping, etc., and for hanging at home to store things. Small size noken is for carrying personal effects such as betel nut, food, books, etc. Noken may be used to cover the head or body. For nearly all (275/311) respondents, noken is an accessory to their traditional dress, and according to most (290/311) is used in traditional ceremonies or celebrations, such as marriage proposals, marriage ceremonies, initiation of children, appointment of community leaders, welcoming guests and for keeping sacred heirlooms.. Among mountain communities, noken had been given along with other presentations to make peace between disputing parties. Drs. H. Rahimin Katjong, Deputy Governor of West Papua, recalled wearing a small noken containing betel nut etc at the time of his appointment as a traditional community leader at Fak Fak, West Papua. Nearly all (276/311) respondents explained that noken is used by all age groups, and most (282/311) observed that noken is used by both sexes. As soon as babies learn to walk, their mothers give them a small noken containing food such as sweet potatoes, thus instilling the habit of carrying one’s own needs, which may also be used to help others, inside a noken which is always close at hand. Three quarters of respondents (235/311) said that noken is generally made by women-- ”the Mamas of Papua”--usually adults according to most respondents (250/311). Women thus play a special role in safeguarding noken culture. At Epouto village in Paniai District, we found male orchid-noken craftsmen. Asmat community men also make noken. Most craftspersons make noken in their spare time from agriculture, fishing, and household duties, though some make noken full time. Noken making goes on yearround, but will increase in times leading up to traditional festivals. The method of making noken varies between communities. A basic outline is as follows. Branches or stems or bark of certain small trees or shrubs are cut, sometimes heated over a fire, and soaked in water for some days. After soaking, only wood fibre remains. The Dani/Hugula in Wamena peel bark from sticks of certain trees and then beat the sticks till only fibres remain. The wood fibre is dried, and then spun with the palm of the hand on the thigh of the craftsperson to make a strong thread or string, which is sometimes coloured using natural dyes. This string is knotted by hand to make net bags with various patterns and sizes. The same technique is used to make vests, hats, belts, etc.. In Paniai District we find noken interwoven with special decoration made from fibres from yellow, brown and black. orchid stems. Besides knotting, there are communities which make noken by weaving tree bark, wood fibre, pandan leaf, young sago leaf, or grass from swamps. Some select grasses with contrasting colours (Inanwatan, Metemani, Kais and Kokoda (Imeko) communities). Maybrat community craftspersons colour the fibres with natural colours. The fibres, leaves or grass are woven in various attractive patterns with symbolic meanings. To make noken requires great manual skill, care, artistic sense and inner satisfaction. Craftspersons often make noken while singing traditional songs of Papua. To become proficient in making noken takes up to several months of informal training. A skilled noken craftsperson will be much appreciated within her (or his) community. The diversity of making, wearing and use of noken continues to develop and be recreated as the response of the people of Papua to nature and their environment.

Indonesia 2012

Beshbarmak is one of the favorite traditional Kyrgyz dishes. Nowadays, none of the feast or festivities can do without preparing beshbarmak. Beshbarmak is boiled lamb cut into very small pieces and mixed with homemade noodles cooked in the lamb broth. It is served with an onion sauce called ‘chyk’ and broth (‘sorpo’). Traditionally beshbarmak is eaten with hands. That is why it is called besh barmak, which literally means five thumbs. When eating meat, guest sit in groups of two or four people. The plate with meat is given to each group. Within each group, the joints with meat are distributed according to the status of each person. Also, some beshbarmak is also left at the bottom of the big plate for those young women and men who were busy running errands outside.

Saint Gióng also known as Phù Đổng Sky King in historical literature is a legendary hero of the ancient Vietnamese. Many centuries ago, Saint Gióng festival of Phù Đổng village –his homeland– was ranked as the most attractive one in the Northern Delta. It attracts tens of thousands of people from everywhere to attend thanks to its performing match like a battle that reenacts the national hero’s victory. The festival in Phù Đổng Village symbolically re-enacts the battles, in which the saint’s generals, such as Flag Master, Drum Master, Gong Master, Army Master and Children’s Master fight against the enemies generals. Gióng festival takes place from the 6th to the 12th day of the fourth lunar month, mobilizing hundreds of village male teenagers who act phù giá (assisstants) in an elite troop. On the 6th day of the fourth lunar month, those who act generals have to be launched in front of the Sky King, and then gather at Phù Đổng temple where they officially enter the time and space of the legend. A ritual of sacrifice is one of the most important practices of the festival at Sky King Temple as it is believed that sacrifice symbolizes the community’s respect dedicated to the holy Saint. It is followed by the ritual of water procession performed by the generals of the troop, which implies that sacred water taken from Mẫu Temple is used to bathe the weapon. The chess-playing ritual also known as the battle ritual is the central activity of Gióng festival of Phù Đổng temple and it is practiced in the form of a grand performance. In the Sóc Temple, where Saint Giong ascended to Heaven on his iron horse, the celebrations include a ritual of bathing Giong statue and a procession of bamboo flowers and elephant to the temple as offerings to the saint. Bamboo flowers are dispersed to villager as a good luck throughout the year.

Viet Nam 2010

The traditional dance forms of the Malay communities in Singapore are wide-ranging and diverse, and they include zapin, joget, asli and inang, amongst others. Most of these traditional dance forms were already popular in Singapore during the early 20th century. Today, they are performed at festive events, staged as productions, and also taught to the younger generation through performing arts schools.

As ritualized practices devoted to disaster-averting and peace-pleading, Ong Chun Ceremony widely spreads along the coastal areas both in Minnan, China and Melaka, Malaysia. It is practiced by the communities with both commonness and localities. In Minnan, it mostly takes place every three or four years when the northeast monsoon arrives in autumn; while in Melaka, it is preferentially held in the dry season of the lunar leap year, both starting on an auspicious day meticulously selected and lasting for days or months. The element is rooted in folk belief and customs of worshiping Ong Yah, the deity reverently acknowledged as Tye Tian Soon Siew Ong Yah, among the coastal communities. Local inhabitants believe that, Ong Yah is appointed as commissioner by the Heaven to protect people and their lands from disasters on regular patrols of inspection. Those who lost their lives at sea, respected as “good brothers,” become wandering souls lonely and homeless. Rituals for welcoming and escorting Ong Yah at regular intervals are therefore held for his visit to the land and rescuing “good brothers.”

China,Malaysia 2020

The term Si has dual connotation of referring to the Calligraphy pen as well as to the specific bamboo from which pen is crafted. According to Lopen (master) Wangdi Gyeltshen, a renown calligrapher of Central Monastic Body said that, there is also another reed locally called Tshi-nag (a reed with dark colour at its internode) which is available from Wangdi-tse monastery area in Thimphu. Actually, there is no specific origin of the Si as it came to exist simultaneously with the writing culture in Bhutan. Colloquially, all pens used for writing purposes are called as Myu-gu, which the name derived from its raw material Myug-ma (bamboo or reed). That is why any pen used for writing available in the market today, irrespective of what it is made of are commonly called Myu-gu (literally means reed pen). As there are different types of My-gu, thus, apart from the aforementioned Si, the pens are made from a wild fern called Kyer-ma is called Kyer-myug, and the ones made of quill is dro-myug, the nib made from metal is chag-myug. Similarly, sol-myug made from dead amber or charcoal, a talc stone is cut like a pencil for use -do-myug, the chalk comes in packets and used for educational purposes in schools is sa-myug. There are also pir-myug (brush pen) and lastly, the zha-myug, the lead pencil. Regarding the raw material; in Bhutan, Si is traditionally found at Chagdana in Toepai Gewog (Block) in Punakha, and near the Nag-tshang (Manor) at Drametse. It is also found in Kheng region of Zhemgang and at the Yarphel village of Trashi Yangtse district. Si is highly valued as being blessed by superior beings like Lord Manju Shri, Guru Rinpoche, the five classes of dakinis and the Dharma Lord Drukpa Kunleg (4155-1529). Si grows as big as normal bamboo, with short culm or internode, narrow lacuna and thick culm wall. They grow in heights of more than five arm-span. Both the plant and its leaves are generally yellowish. In ancient times, a writing pen was mainly a painting brush in China and in India it was made from the quill (moulted flight feather) of a peacock or other large bird. It is explained that the pen used traditionally in Tibet and Bhutan was made from the plant species called Si, which has thick nodes and grows mainly at lower altitudes. It is obvious that, if writing tradition is gradually disappearing, both the art of making Si as well as its usage is an inevitable element to be gone together. Due to the booming computing technologies and automatic printing machines, the writing along with Si related practices are being gradually driven out of its existence however, realizing its importance and for its revival, His Majesty’s Golden Scriptures Project and other similar projects being initiated by some individual Spiritual masters had help in revitalization of such tradition as well as involving calligrapher to carry on the writing and Si making culture amidst the emerging sophisticated technologies.

In the Lhotsam (Southern Bhutanese) community, baby shower is an event observed on the eleventh day after the birth of a baby, which is generally understood as the naming of the new born baby. In fact, the act of performing “Nauran” relates to Hindu Holy Scriptures and it is done as a cultural and religious mandate. It is performed by all casts like the Rai, Gurung, Ghalley, Chhetri or Brahmins in Hindu religion following the same process on the eleventh day which is regarded auspicious.

One of the most entertaining mask dances is the Ging Tsholing Cham, where most of the audience, especially the children, are captivated by the intensifying drum beats and the fighting scene of the Cham ritual dance. The mask dance is also called Tro-ging, a local name, because it provides an entertaining presentation and performance for the audience. Ging represents the wrathful appearance of celestial beings, daka and dakinis; those dances are performed by laymen called Boecham pa. Whereas Tshogling is the emanation of guardian deities of Dharma protectors, including the Four Kings of the cardinal points and the Eight Classes of Gods and Goddesses; these roles are usually performed by Tsun cham pa monks. According to literary sources, the mask dance was introduced by Terton, treasure revealer, Pema Lingpa (1450-1521) after he saw the performance at Zangdok Pelri, the copper-colored mountain and spiritual realm of Guru Padmasambhava. Pema Lingpa, who was one of the fortunate incarnate beings of Guru Padmasambhava, met his enlightened master several times: when he predicted the future, when he gave him the list of treasures to be discovered in disguise, when he guided him to the sites to be discovered, and as he often invited him into his realm during meditation states and in dreams. On one such occasion, in the magnificent palace of Rang-jung Trulpai Phodrang, self-formed palace, he saw the Root Master manifesting in Ja-lue rainbow body or wisdom body, from which millions of his forms emerged, filling the three realms of the universe, which is beyond our imagination. Among the magical representations, the enlightened sages of India and Tibet sit in the right row and the scholars sit in the left row. In between them sit the 108 treasure discoverers, who are incarnations of Guru Padmasambhava and his 25 chief disciples. A cloud of gods and goddesses transformed into one hundred Dampa Rigja Protective Deities– forty-two peaceful forms, and fifty-eight in Ging wrathful appearance–they made various sensuous offerings, including the performance of Dorji-lugar Vajra Dances, dancing upon the air, rejoicing in the participation in the preaching of the coinage doctrine. Outside the entrance gate of the Four Directions are thousands of warriors from the Pho-jued and Mo-jued male and female classes of protecting deities, the Eight Classes of Gods and Goddesses, led by the kings of the Four Directions Tshoglings, who are getting ready to overcome obstacles to the sacred teachings. In the war scene between the Gings and the Tshoglings, the aggressive characters of the Tshoglings, and the drum beats of the Gings arouse a sense of fear in the obstacles and samaya oath breakers, guiding them to follow the righteous path of humanity. A similar performance was originally introduced by Guru Padmasambhava to aid Tibet’s King Thrisong Detsen (c. 755-797 or 804 AD). Padmasambhava used his supernatural powers at the great Samye Monastery in Tibet, he manifested in the form of Ging and Tshogling, producing an immense positive force to fight and subdue the evil spirits that hindered the construction of the monastery. With the obstacles overcome, the site became an important part of establishing the teachings of the Buddha in the region. After seeing the spectacular performance and realizing its benefits for the liberation of sentient beings, Pema Lingpa introduced the sacred mask dance to Jigten me-yul the human world, first at Korphu Temple, one of his seats in Trongsa, central Bhutan. There is still a saying that goes, "If you are not sure about the choreographies of Ging Tsholing or Tro-ging, you should visit Korphu Drub." Korphu Drub is the annual mask dance festival that coincides with the temple's dedication ceremony. Due to the importance of the dance, this mask dance was later introduced in most Tshechu, Rabney, Mewang, Mani, Drub, Drubchen (native names for the annual mask dance festival) of forts, monasteries and temples by Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal (1594-1651) who unified Bhutan as a country, the successive spiritual leaders of the Je Khenpo as well as the temporary leaders of the Druk Desi - these spiritual masters and far-sighted monarchs.

Rūkada Nātya is a type of drama performed using string puppets, traditionally meant for providing innocuous entertainment and conveying moral lessons to village communities. Themes are chosen from folktales, Buddhist stories, ancient literature, historical narratives, and the trivia with humorous anecdotes from contemporary life or from nādagam, an extinct form of ‘folk opera’. Puppeteers prepare their own handwritten scripts with dialogs and songs, and recite them, while manipulating the puppets. Puppeteers make their own wooden puppets with movable joints that represent either ‘static roles’ with fewer movable joints and of near life-size; or ‘active roles’ with many movable joints and of 3.5’ to 4.5’ in height. Puppets are dressed with colourful costumes that identify the characters they portray. Puppeteers manipulate them using strings tied to single short bars or two crossed-bars held by hand, while standing on an elevated horizontal platform and leaned onto a horizontal bar that is fixed across the stage about the shoulder-height of the puppeteers. A small band of musicians provides accompaniment using a harmonium, a violin, and a drum. Performances are held as community events at public spaces suitable for community gathering, mostly during festive times in the months of May and June, while special shows are held at schools and higher educational institutes. Makeshift stages, made of wooden frames and covered with black curtains on all sides to camouflage the strings to create an in illusion of reality. Performances are held in evenings in a well-covered space under dim light to enhance the illusion.

Sri Lanka 2018

“Pinisi”, literally referring to the rig and sails of the famed ‘Sulawesi schooner’, for both the Indonesian and international public has become the epitome of the Archipelago’s indigenous sailing craft. Construction and deployment of such vessels stand in the millennia-long tradition of Austronesian (‘Malayo-Polynesian’) boatbuilding and navigation that brought forth a broad variety of sophisticated watercraft, ranging from the outriggered boats that enabled man to migrate throughout the vast expanses of the Pacific and Indian Oceans to the massive ships encountered by the first European intruders into the Malay Archipelago. As in any maritime tradition, these practices involve sophisticated cognitive concepts that outline the three-dimensional form of a ship and its countless components as well as the advanced social organisation necessary to successfully build, operate and navigate trading vessels. Following centuries of mutual co-operation, the three communities now represent the pinnacle of the Archipelago’s boatbuilding and navigation traditions. In indigenous perception a ship’s hull is conceptionalised in the form of ‘plank patterns’ (tatta), i.e., comprehensive mental routines that delineate the configuration and assembly sequence of a hull’s planking, her inner strengthenings and the dowels holding planks and framing together. Deeply embedded into a series of rituals that complement the building process, these routines for many a traditional type of vessel define position, form and size of each plank, frame or dowel in a hull; for more contemporary ships the tatta provides an overall draught that can be adapted to changing constructional demands, thus facilitating perpetuation and enhancements.

Indonesia 2017

Mudiyettu is a ritualistic art form of Kerala based on the mythological tale of battle between the goddess Kali and the demon Darika. It is a community ritual in which the entire village participates. After the summer crops have been harvested, the villagers reach the temple early in the morning on an appointed day. The traditional performers of Mudiyettu having purified themselves through fasting and prayers, proceed to draw on the temple floor a huge image of goddess Kali called 'Kalam' with coloured powder obtained from organic material. Kalam helps the performers imbue the spirit of the goddess. This is followed by an enactment of Kali-Darika myth, where Kali eventually vanquishes the demon. Mudiyettu performance which is said to herald the dawn of peaceful and prosperous new year, purifies and rejuvenates the whole community. It is performed annually in 'Bhagavati Kavus'', the temples of the goddess in different villages of Kerala along the rivers, Chalakkudy Puzha, Periyar and Moovattupuzha among thenMarar and Kurup communities. Mudiyettu combines in itself the mythic, the ritual, the festive and the ecological aspects of the community. At the same time it is an expression of aesthetic and creative aspirations of the community.

India 2010