Kyrgyz people worshipped natural objects from antiquity, deeming that it is in the nature the visible and invisible worlds may coexist harmoniously. One of such practices is the Obo ceremony. It is a worshipping practice that was spread in a pre-Islamic period, when people equally worshipped the Sun and the Earth. It was understood that the Sun represents the fatherly beginning, and the Earth represents the motherly one. Sacred sites are visited by people, who need to be treated from illnesses, both physical, and spiritual; or those who want to make a prayer in memory of the dead relatives. Other widely spread practices are zikir chaluu and shamanic ritual korum zikir. In addition, other varieties of spiritual practices include talma bii and oiun. Roles of bakhshi (in Turkic tradition) and dubana (Muslim dervishes) are merged in many ways in Kyrgyz practice. Zikir chaluu represents emotional prayer, which is made because of pragmatic reasons, and as a rule, people ask for prosperity, welfare, healing, fertility or peace. Fire purification ceremony sham is performed often along with zikir chaluu during festive rituals as the Kyrgyz believe that the spiritual and visible worlds are unified in the fire.

Inscribed in 2008 (3.COM) on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity (originally proclaimed in 2005) The annual Gangneung Danoje Festival takes place in the town of Gangneung and its surroundings, situated east of the Taebaek Mountain Range on the Korean peninsula.The festival includes a shamanistic ritual on the Daegwallyeong Ridge, which pays tribute to the mountain deity and male and female tutelary deities. It encompasses traditional music and Odokddegi folk songs, the Gwanno mask drama, oral narrative poetry, and various popular pastimes. The Nanjang market, Korea’s largest outdoor marketplace, is today a major element of the festival, where local products and handicrafts are sold and contests, games and circus performances take place. The four-week long festival begins with the brewing of a sacred liquor and the Dano shamanistic rituals, in which a central role is played by a sacred tree, the sinmok, and the hwagae, a ritual object made of feathers, bells and bamboo wood. One of the specific features of the festival is the coexistence of Confucian, shamanistic and Buddhist rituals. Through the rituals devoted to the deities, the region is believed to remain unaffected by natural disasters, allowing all its residents to live in peace and prosperity. Every year, a large number of visitors attend the various ritual performances and actively participate in events such as making Danoje festival fans, brewing the sacred liquor, drawing masks for the Gwanno Mask Drama, preparing and eating Surichiwi rice crackers and washing their hair in Iris water. The Gangneung Danoje Festival enjoys immense popularity. However, cultural standardization and increased media coverage over the years have resulted in the loss of some traditional elements of the festival. In the traditional context of the festival, one of the functions has been to transcend social differences by allowing people of all social classes to participate.

South Korea 2008

Kharam is celebrated in all the villages under Tshenkhar gewog, Lhuentse Dzongkhag of Northeast Bhutan. In the local dialect, Tsangla, "Kharam" means "Gossiping negative forces”. Villages host the festive celebration to please the local deities, and to seek protection them from unforseen disasters for their crops, cattle, and fellow local people. They also pay homage to the local deities for protecting the people, yields and the domestic life of the country by natural calamities. The annual festive event is celebrated on 27th and 28th day of the 8th month of the Bhutanese calendar. The event is celebrated by performing ritual in the morning and consequently by performing boen choe “Bonism” by the communal people in respective locality and followed by traditional games like archery and khuru (dart) competition within the village. The main performer of the celebration is the Bonpo “Chant Leader” accompanied by all villagers irrespective of age. In the past, in the evening of the first day of the celebration, people used to ward-off the negative forces by hitting a rooster against a cow. However, now the community has stopped killing roosters and the symbolism was replaced using a feather. With the performance of Kharam, it is believed that the village will prosper and have good yield in that year with less mishaps in the community.

The 600-year-old Serlung Pelkar Chhoeling Monastery in Dawakha, Paro was founded by Drupthop Thangthong Gyalpo (1361-1485) when he built iron bridges for the people in this area. In the meantime, the people living in a place high up on the mountain had to deal with strong winds and storms that caused harm to the people and destroyed crops. The people blamed the infamous lakes in the area. There were two lakes, Yum and Syem (Mother and Daughter), which were believed to be the cause of all the destruction inflicted on the people. In Bhutan, the Bhutanese believe that all living things, including nature, have spirits and are alive within them. For example, the mountains in Bhutan are believed to be the abode of mountain gods, or at least to house spirits. Therefore, people decided to drive away the destructive spirits of the lakes by throwing the dead bodies of people and animals into the lake. The mother lake left its present location for the Dagala region and became known as Dagala Yumtsho, while the daughter lake did not make it further than present-day Selung Goemba. She had problems with her leg. You can still see the remains of the lakes where they rested. The mother advised the daughter to stay in this place and serve as the protector of the Dharma of Drupthop Thangtong Gyalpo in Selung Goemba, and left her her revered Sergi Alung (hook), making the place known as Serlung Goemba. The people of this place considered it auspicious that a lake had formed near a monastery founded by the famous Drupthop Thangtong Gyalpo. The villagers believed that the lake would eliminate famine and bring prosperity to the village, and held a festive sacrifice to ask the spirit of the lake to bless them with protection. The ritual takes place in Selung Goemba once every three years. There is no specific day or month set for its performance, but depends mainly on the availability of the Pawo. The Goemba is a common religious place of worship for the people of Khamdi and Sali and some other neighboring villages.

Overlooking a small perennial spring amidst a wooded hill is the seat of the Sapta Devi, “replica of seven goddesses” under a big rock beside a tree on the slope of the hill. In Lhotsamkha (Southern Bhutanese language), they are regarded as the Sapta Devi – “Seven goddesses” the protecting deity of the village. As per the present elderly village folks, one of the main stone replicas was dug out and was originated at same place, which is regarded as main deity was dug out by the local shaman “Paus”. A few meters below there is a pond of the deity. In the past, people used to collect water from the pond for domestic use. The origin of the identification of the sacred site dates back to the first settlement in 1940sas no villagers exactly know the date when they knew about the deity. According to the folks, herders and people collecting water from the pond used to see images of little girl vanishing into the bushes usually in the morning and evening. Even some people fell ill after they saw the image of the spirit. Upon consulting the shaman, they said that they were possessed by the deity residing above the spring. So, a group of shamans performed rites in the month of May in 1966, and identified the exact location and dug out the stone’s replica of the deity. People say that the stone replica was unearthed by the shamans after they knew about the location. The shamans also fixed a day for the ceremony to be performed during new moon in the month of May every year. The community thereafter started celebrating the day annually and performed the rites on the new moon day in May. Although the people observe the day annually, people visit the seat of the local deity whenever the village is in grip of pandemic or natural calamities. They make offerings of local products, incense and new pieces of different colored clothes. The past practice of killing animals as offering is no more in practice. Instead, Brahmins (one of the Hindhu casts) recite Holy Scriptures to please the goddess. The rice mixed with butter is offered in the sacrificial fire. All the people in the village take part in the ceremony to pray and ward off any disaster or natural calamities in the village.

In Ney, a village in Lhuentse, northeast Bhutan, Chotpa gathers villagers together to make offerings to protective deities, dakinis, great teachers, and the protectors of Buddhist practitioners for the prosperous year. The ritual has a literal name that evokes the yearly celebration of a community gathering to make offerings. On 15th day of eleventh lunar month according to the Bhutanese calendar, Ney villagers gather at the local Lhakhang, temple, in the middle of the village. The Chotpa ritual is mainly to thank for the protection and blessing they received during entire year without any problem in their communities. They appease their guardian deities for ensuring well-being, health, and blessing good fortune for entire communities. They also seek protection on agricultural farm from natural disaster, wild animal, and pest in the forthcoming year as well. Chotpa is thus both a religious and social celebration for the year. On the day of Chotpa, people all gather at the lhakhang. Throughout the day, they chant mantras to make amends for wrong doings and to offer gratitude for the blessing and to request for enhanced wealth and peace. While a lack of definitive sources makes it hard to trace the history of this occasion, the community believe that this ritual dates to early human settlement of the region. Community members consider it an important occasion, and it is a tradition which has continued for potentially centuries.