The Lum Medicinal Bathing of Sowa Rigpa (Tibetan Medicine) has been developed by the Tibetan people within a life view based on Jungwa-nga (five elements) – i.e., Sa (earth), Chu (water), Me (fire), Lung (wind) and Namkha (space) – and a view about health and illness based on Nyepa-sum (three dynamics) – i.e., Lung, Tripa and Pekan. In Tibetan, “Lum” indicates the traditional knowledge and practices of bathing in natural hot springs, herbal water or steam to adjust the balance of mind and body, to ensure health and treat illnesses. Influenced by the Bon religion and Tibetan Buddhism, Lum embodies folk experiences in illness prevention and treatment, and reflects the transmission and development of traditional knowledge represented by the treatise Gyud zhi (the Four Tantras) in present-day health practice. Lum is practiced under the guidance of a Manpa (traditional physician) in two ways. One is bathing in Five Types of Hot Springs containing different minerals. The other, bathing with Five Medicinal Nectars, includes three methods: immersion, steam-bathing and applications with sachets. In this process, Manpa, in collaboration with Lum Jorkhan (pharmacist) and Manyok (Lum assistant), conducts symptom differentiation based on observation, questions and pulse palpation. Then preparation of medicines includes herb compound, boiling, fermentation and addition of extra herbs. The element has been transmitted over generations through daily life, religious rituals, folkloric activities and medical practices on account of its safety and accessibility. While providing Tibetans with a sense of identity and continuity, the element reflects cultural diversity and human creativity.

China 2018

Nuad Thai is regarded as part of the art, science and culture of Thai traditional healthcare. As a non-medicinal remedy and a manual therapy, it involves body manipulation in which the practitioner helps rebalance the patients’ body, energy and structure in order to treat illnesses believed to be caused by the obstruction of energy flow along sen, or lines. This manipulation aims to normalize dhatu or the four body elements, namely, earth, water, wind and fire. Though being described as energy lines, sen is a concept distinct from the meridians of traditional Chinese medicine and nadi of yoga. Traditional Thai massage theory holds that there is a web of sen lines running and crisscrossing throughout the human body, totaling 72,000, ten of which are primary and known as ten primary lines. Diagnosis and treatment in Nuad Thai are based on the principle of sen prathan sib. To open up blocked routes, Nuad Thai therapists perform a combination of pressing, kneading, squeezing, pounding, chopping, bending, stretching, etc. using their hands, elbows, knees, feet, together with self-massaging tools, and herbal hot compress to reduce inflammation and relax affected muscles. Practitioners also treat patients with compassion, giving encouragement to lift physical constitution and morale. Presently, Nuad Thai is classified into two main types: Nuad Thai therapy and Nuad Thai for health promotion.

Thailand 2019

“Who is Executioner”. Traditional game played with a kind of grass. Four children play the roles of king, vizier, executioner and thief.

Durga Puja marks the ten-day worship of the Hindu mother-goddess Durga. Durga appears in her divine incarnation as ‘Mahishahuramardini’ – a goddess created by the gods to kill the demon, Mahishasura. This image of the demon-slaying goddess is coupled in Bengal with her image as divine mother and daughter, who descends annually from her husband Shiva’s home in the Himalayas to her parents’ home on earth, accompanied by her four children, Ganesh, Kartick, Lakshmi and Saraswati. The worship of the goddess begins with the inaugural day of Mahalaya, when the clay images have life invoked in them through the painting of the eyes, and ends on the tenth day of Bijoya Dashami, when the images are immersed in the river. Durga Puja is the best instance of the public performance of religion and art in the city. It witnesses a celebration of craftsmanship, cross-cultural transactions and cross-community revelry. The manner in which the festival is enmeshed in a web of competition and consumption, accelerated by the winning of accolades, secures its secular identity, embedding it in the contemporary global cultures of touring, spectacle, and entertainment. The exemplary character of Durga Puja lies in its ability to not temporally bound itself to the ritual occasion. Its dynamism lies in it being a constantly mutating event – in its fusion of tradition with changing tastes and popular cultures, and in the adaptation of the iconographies of Durga and the styles of her temporary abodes to cater to new regimes of art production.

India 2021

Due-za was a Bon Ritual that was once practiced in Yurung Gewog (block) under Pemagatshel Dzongkhag (district). It was believed to have been brought from Tibet by the ancestors. There is no written or oral record of the preceders, however, Lopen Kapai was the last holder of the ritual according to the informants. Every three years in between the third and fourth lunar months, people from three gewogs namely, Yurung, Khominang, and Thungo would gather in a place called Aring in Lawung village. They would hold the ritual and do the same offerings to the local deities for a week. To make the offering, the men are grouped into three age groups; the strong adult men, the middle-aged, and the children. The people would know their duties and prepare for the ritual. The adult men would hunt deer, reindeer, and other large animals. The middle-aged men would fish from the rivers and the boys would catch birds. Meanwhile, the women would roast the cereals and grind. They only cast head of their catch for the offering. The remaining carcass was either left in the jungle or the hunters kept it for themselves as per the informant. They never consumed the meat of their catch during the ceremony. They prepared the altar led by Lopen (Master) Kapai (shrine) and the heads of the animals were displayed in it. The locals did not have a particular deity but would seek protection from the Dangling deity and Abi Jomo. Lopen would recite mantras while making the offerings. After the offering, four people would join their hands by crisscrossing to take a seat and a person would mount on it. He will be raised above and carried around. He would holler out ‘Wayo Wayo’ or ‘Bae Bae’ led by the Lopen and the people would join in the hollering. Every person would have roasted flour (Kapchi in local dialect) in their Gho (Bhutanese male dress) or Kira (Bhutanese female dress) pockets. They would take out a handful and force-feed to the nearest person for fun. People would prepare their best cuisines and have a potluck culture along with the local liquors; Ara, Bangchang, and Singchang. All entrances would be sealed and no Buddhist practitioners were allowed to enter and participate in the ritual. In case a practitioner entered unknowingly, it was believed a bad omen would befall the community and hence, would be blamed and dealt with accordingly. Accumulation of merits or carrying out virtuous acts by the members were prohibited. Dueza was said to have been performed for ages but the head of the village realized it to be immoral and against Buddhism. Upon discussion, the people agreed to cease the practice. They put forward an application to the Home Minister, Late Lyonpo Tamzing Jagar on the thirteenth lunar date of December 1966 to officially release an order to stop the practice. The order was declared on the fifteenth lunar date of December 1966. The great transition appeared after the kago (the blessings) from the three great Buddhist masters of the time, Gyalwang Karmapa Rangjung Rigpai Dorji, Kyabji Duejom Rinpoche Jigdral Yeshey Dorji, and Kyabji Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche.

The Dombra is a musical two-stringed instrument, which occupies a special place in Kazakhs’ hearts. The National Dombyra Day has been included in the list of national holidays since 2018 by the decree of the President of Kazakhstan. This was done in in order to further consolidate society around the idea of preserving and reviving national culture and identity. The holiday is celebrated annually on the first Sunday of July. Traditional Kazakh dombra kuy (kaz 'kuy') - instrumental play performed on dombra - a traditional pear-shaped musical instrument with two strings and a long neck. The true meaning of kuy execution dates back to the sacred relationship with the Creator and the desire to establish the internal harmony of the individual. Kazakhs say 'Kuy - Tanyrdyn sybyry' ('Kuy - a whisper of Tengri'). Dombra had been hung on the wall of each nomad house (yurta) for the play before guests and home owners. Kazakhstan’s First President Nursultan Nazarbayev established National Dombra Day on June 12th, 2018. It immediately became a favorite holiday for people and was widely celebrated nationwide with music competitions and festivals. During next celebration in 2019, President Tokayev noted that this day represents the nation’s course towards spiritual modernization and putting value on Kazakh traditions. The music of the Kazakh folk instrument dombra tells the history of its people and the centuries-old chronicle of the great steppe. “The nobility and generosity of Kazakh people are represented in music and kyuis (musical compositions). The culture and art of our people do not exist without dombra. Kyuis have always elevated the national spirit,” said Tokayev. The President also thanked musicians who worked to popularize traditional Kazakh music. In years 2020-2021 people celebrated Dombra Day from home due to the coronavirus pandemic. “This day gives us a deep appreciation of our national arts. The sacred instrument brings us its melody through symphony and opera, becoming an integral part of classical art,” Minister of Culture and Sports Aktoty Raimkulova wrote on her Instagram. The Kyui-Live online contest was held by the Department of Culture, Archives and Documentation in the Akmola Region. More than 30 performers of different ages and professions took part in the competition and posted their videos on social media. All the winners received prizes and diplomas. The Kazakh people also celebrated Dombra Day in other countries. QazAlliance, the Alliance dedicated to supporting Kazakh people living abroad, launched the World Dombra Festival project, reported the alliance on its Facebook. Dombra players from 25 countries and 36 cities took part in the project and congratulated Kazakhstan on Dombra Day.

Thuong Liet village festival, also known as Gieng festival, is held from the 10th to the 12th of January (lunar calendar), at the communal house - pagoda - mausoleum complex of the village, to commemorate the merits of Princess Tran Thi Quy Minh. On the morning of the 10th, Thuong Liet village festival begins with the ceremony of carrying Buddha's offerings from Thien Duc Tu pagoda, going around the village, and finally returning to the communal house. In the afternoon, the female worshiping delegation performs the incense offering and proclamation ceremony. The most special is the procession of the teacher, the female worker and the flag and fan spear dance. The teacher and the female worker are selected according to traditional regulations. On the morning of the 11th and 12th, the villagers organize the procession of the female worker of the two villages of Dong Thuong Liet and Tay Thuong Liet. Previously, Thuong Liet organized the procession of the teacher, but in recent years, the teacher has not organized the procession, only the female worker. The teacher has the responsibility of welcoming the ceremony, the ceremony, the female worker used to teach the children to dance, but now she does not have to teach the dance, she only supervises the children's dance. According to the village rules, a person can be a teacher many times, but a worker can only be a worker once in a lifetime. The master of ceremonies performs the Saint ceremony and starts the Spear-flag-and-fan dance. During these 2 days, there is also a ceremony to bring offerings from the villages and hamlets in the commune to the Saint. At the same time, the Spear-flag-and-fan dance team is selected - "Miss Len". The Spear-flag-and-fan dance is an ancient dance, associated with traditional rituals that appeared in Giang village since the Tran Dynasty. During the ceremony, the two ladies wear ceremonial costumes, sit in hammocks, and command and supervise the dance groups on the East and West sides of the communal house. This is a form of collective folk dance combined with a couple dance. The content describes the princess's mood before going far away to say goodbye to her father. The dance team consists of 40 - 50 people. Each of the Miss Len (dancers) holds a small flag and a paper fan to fold during the dance. In some dance classes, there is also a rông reader and a troupe leader. There are about 36 different dance levels. The dance movements focus on depicting rural life. When dancing, the flag and fan hands are sometimes on one side and sometimes on the other, changing the flag hand to the fan hand, often called "trao co, trao fan", the local pronunciation is "giao". Besides the rituals, procession and dancing with flags, spears and fans, the festival also has folk games and entertainment such as cockfighting, chess, tug of war, wrestling... Thuong Liet village festival has profound historical value, associated with the story of Mrs. Tran Qui Minh, who reclaimed the land, established the hamlet to create today's Giang village. With its typical value, Thuong Liet village festival was included in the List of National Intangible Cultural Heritage by the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism in 2018.

Thanh Liet Temple Festival - also known as the mussel procession festival, is a long-standing custom of Thanh Liet village, Hung Lam commune (now hamlet 9, Xuan Lam commune) held on the 6th day of the 2nd lunar month every year. According to the community's concept, the festival is to commemorate the merits of Nguyen Bieu, Princess Lieu Hanh and the water gods who bless the shrimp and fish catching, mussel raking on Lam river. The festival space is a section of Lam river about 2.5 kilometers long, from the river wharf in front of Thanh Liet temple to Phu junction, including rituals such as: ramming ceremony, welcoming ceremony, main ceremony, and chopping ceremony. On the 1st day of the 2nd lunar month, at the temple, the village's ritual committee performs a mediumship ritual to ask for the gods' instructions on organizing the festival. On the morning of the 5th, the ritual committee performs a ritual to ask for permission from the gods to hold the Pho Tro/Moc Duc ceremony. The most special ritual is the water procession. On the morning of the 6th, the Saint's palanquin is carried from the temple to the sandbank and put on a boat. The large boats of the fishing village are arranged in a long row, decorated with flags, flowers, sacrificial objects, and offerings... Leading the procession is the master boat with a decorated altar for the water god, on which the village's elders are carried, followed by the boat carrying the palanquins of the gods. They worship the water god at the junction of the Lam River (Nghe An) and La River (Ha Tinh). The master of ceremonies performs the rituals of worshiping the water god, the river god... typical of the river region. Legend has it that in this ceremony, there is also the ritual of carrying mussels and releasing mussels into the river, so the Thanh Liet Temple Festival has long been called the mussel procession. The ceremony lasts for 2 hours and ends with the procession of the god's palanquin back to the Thanh Liet Temple and the organization of the grand ceremony. The festival has games that are imbued with the identity of the river region such as swimming, prize-winning, diving, rowing, clam-raking, volleyball, tug-of-war, chess, etc. Thanh Liet Temple Festival is imbued with the identity of the river region, is a place to preserve the worship of water gods and reflects the professional thinking of the people in the lower Lam River. With its typical value, Thanh Liet Temple Festival was included in the List of National Intangible Cultural Heritage by the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism in 2018.

In the life cycle rituals of the Raglai people, the Grave-abandoning Ritual is considered the most important ritual. The Grave-abandoning Ritual is performed from the third to the fifth year. It is usually held around March and April of the solar calendar, for 3-5 days, with the meaning of farewell to the dead forever according to the Raglai people's concept. The scale of the festival is large, attracting the whole village and many other villages to participate. Depending on the economic conditions and local customs, they make it big or small. For large Grave-abandoning Ritual, there is usually a Kagor - a symbol of wealth and prosperity that the living make to give to the dead. An offering in the shape of a boat, beautifully and elaborately carved. The offerings and items used in the Grave-abandoning Ritual are usually prepared by the deceased's family months in advance, including 3 trays of offerings: Tray 1: Chicken, rice, wine, 1 pair of chopsticks; Tray 2: Pig head, boiled pig liver, boiled chicken, rice, wine, bananas...; Tray 3: Chicken, rice, wine, meat... According to custom, in the Grave-abandoning Ritual, there must be 3 shamans, symbolizing the three parts of the body: head, body, feet. The main shaman always stands in the middle of two other people, called Yanuh jalat (the person who shows the way, shows food, drinks... to the ghost). The "magic stick" (gai toah) is made from the day someone dies, and only now does Yanuh jalat use it. In addition to the ritual, the Grave-abandoning Ritual includes beating gongs, stabbing buffaloes, dancing, singing, and drinking rice wine to celebrate the soul of the deceased. This ceremony involves the contributions of everyone in the Raglai clan and community. The Raglai Grave-abandoning Ritual expresses the feelings and responsibilities of the living towards the dead, at the same time expressing gratitude to grandparents, filial piety to parents, and the close-knit relationship between the village and the neighborhood. With its typical value, the Grave-abandoning Ritual of the Raglai people in Phuoc Chien commune, Thuan Bac district, Ninh Thuan province was included in the List of National Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2018 by the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

An artistic product often like a stick or a bunch of sticks basically made from powders of mixed aromatic plants and medicinal substances. It emits sweet fragrance smoke when burnt and normally offered in and at the sacred places to please deities and to get cleansed and rid-off defilements. The production of incense is considered one of the religious crafts, and it is another way of making Sang (smoke) offering. According to the Bhutanese artisans’, the craftsmanship dates back to the time immemorable when the first Lord Buddha Nam-par zig-pa (Skt. Bispa shayi) attained enlightenment and offered the Sweet Fragrance smoke by burning the Incenses by the enlightened beings; celestial beings and Bodhiasattavas made from varieties of heavenly medicinal herbs. The tradition gradually spread in the spheres of Bonpos (per Buddhist religion of Tibet) and Hinduism and maintained its skill until Buddha Sakya Muni’s period which is about 2500 years back then. The art was also adopted by the Chinese Buddhist missioners and further spread to Mongolia, Korea and Japan as well. In Tibet, the making Smoke offerings and burning incense was officially implemented the 7th Century during the reign of King Songtsen Gampo (R. 618 AD- 650 AD) when Princess Wenchang (M. 641 AD-650 AD) and her entourage members suffered illness while heading towards Lhasa (then, the capital of Tibet) as bride to the King. The Princess tried to medicated using physician attendants but could not bring to the normal yet, by offering the smoke offering made attendants fully recovered. The instruction to make Smoke Offering was from the Minister Thonmi Sambota () who had a visualization from the sacred Sakya Muni images to collect the medicinal herbs from the mountains and making smokes will ease any diseases associated to Nagas. Later, incense making and burning tradition was gradually invented using the same raw materials and medicinal ingredients of Smoke offering. In Bhutan, the art of Incense making was brought by the Country Unifier Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal (1594-1654) and was initially practiced in the Dzongs (fortress) by the monk artisans. Thereafter, the tradition remained intact amongst the Bhutanese being the Buddhist and making offering of incense had been a daily special offering substances in the individual shrines, temples and monasteries. Currently, there are a countable incense manufacturing centers across the country. These industries produce mainly two different incenses: Ja-ju poe (herbal incense) with a yellowish texture and Zu-poe or Choe-jue poe (incense mixed with flesh and blood ingredients) with a brown color. Ja-ju incense is usually burned explicitly for the enlightened beings and when performing Drol-chog (ritual of Goddess Tara), while the other is offered to the guardian deities and guardian spirits during affirmation rituals.

Pa Dung, also known as "Pa Dung" or "Pao Dung", is a folk song of the Dao people. These are songs composed and passed down by the people, born a long time ago, originating from production labor and ancestor worship. Pa Dung, meaning singing Vi, is a popular folk music form of the Dao people. Pa Dung has two singing styles: daily Pa Dung and religious Pa Dung. Daily Pa Dung includes: lullabies, singing for fun, singing love songs, singing between men and women, singing lament...; Religious Pa Dung - customs includes songs used in traditional ceremonies of the Dao people such as coming of age ceremony, wedding ceremony, funeral or full month offering,… Singing in the daily style mainly relies on the "improvisation" talent of the singer, based on a number of available melodies, depending on the circumstances and the audience, a theme has different lyrics. In "Pao Dung", the Dao people divide singing into three forms. The first is singing (Pao dung), in this form, people sing with the longest breath; the second is reading singing (To dung), which is a form of singing with average breath, not taking as much breath as "Pao dung"; the third is speaking singing (Coong dung), this is the fastest form of singing, almost like talking to each other, sometimes with chanting and prolonging the voice. Through singing Pa Dung, Dao people express their thoughts, feelings, and wishes for a better life. Therefore, Pa Dung has a very important spiritual and cultural value for Dao people. With its typical value, Pa Dung of Dao people was included in the List of National Intangible Cultural Heritage by the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism under Decision No. 4069/QD-BVHTTDL dated October 30, 2018.

Folk songs of the Bo Y people in Quyet Tien commune, Quan Ba district, Ha Giang province are lyrics and verses performed in festivals, weddings, longevity celebrations and in daily life: when working in the fields, building houses, when guests come to the house, singing love songs... Folk songs of the Bo Y people have a long history of development. In Bo Y folk songs, there are many popular love songs, expressing the feelings of couples - men and women with many levels of emotions in love. Besides, love songs of the Bo Y people also cleverly use metaphors, comparisons with equal comparisons (like, is). The songs have short and long sentences, one sentence rhymes with a stressed tone, one sentence rhymes with a flat tone at the end of the sentence. The Bo Y people use repetition with high frequency, skillfully, not boring for the listener but always changing, adding new content and words. The song does not have many melodies, rhythms, is sung in a steady beat and is sung in the "voice-pulsing" style. The supporting musical instrument is the Bronze Drum. Folk Songs of the Bố Y with clear and easy-to-understand lyrics and meanings contain educational content towards the origin of the nation, towards truth - goodness - beauty, solidarity, satisfying the entertainment needs of the community, contributing to encouraging and motivating people in labor production. With its typical value, Folk Songs of the Bố Y were included in the List of National Intangible Cultural Heritage by the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism under Decision No. 266/QD-BVHTTDL dated January 30, 2018.