Then a ritual practice indispensable in Tày, Nùng and Thái ethnic groups' spiritual life, reflects concepts about human beings, natural world and the universe (the Earth realm, the 3-layer Heaven realm). Then ceremonies describe a journey in which Then Master (Male/Female) controls ghost soldiers travelling from the Earth realm to the Heaven realm, the residing place of the gods, to offer worshipping items and show their praying requests for peace, bad luck relief, illness treatment, good crops, new house inauguration, initiation/title-conferring ritual (cấp sắc), blessings and happy new year. Then Masters start the journey by singing and plucking the tính lute (two or three-string lute). Depending on worshipping purposes, Then Masters will arrange worshipping trays to pray different native Gods, among whom Ngoc Hoang is the highest God. Then Masters often use a summoning tablet, a seal, a demon-expelling sword, a yin and yang rod, a bell, a fan and items such as pork, chicken, wine, rice, fruits and votive papers to perform Then ceremonies in the believer’s house, outdoor or at Then altar of the Master’s house. While practising, Then Master wears ceremonial dress, sings the language of his ethnic group and plays the tính lute, shakes the chùm xóc nhạc (rattle-bells), waves a fan. In some ceremonies, a female dancing group will accompany. Then rituals performances express Tày, Nùng and Thái’s cultural identities, from customs to musical instruments, dance and music. Then is always transmitted orally while its rituals are being conducted, reflecting the succession between generations.

Viet Nam 2019

Ensuring solidarity and collective identity, national and religious holidays, celebrations, feasts, commemorations are of great significance as regards to social values. The providers, the distribution and the consumption of the food are strictly determined on these special days. Traditional ceremonial keşkek is one of the social practices which sustain its significance from the past to our present day. Keşkek tradition is practiced at circumcisions, wedding ceremonies, religious holidays such as, Ramadans, sacrifice Aid, Muharram Month (first month of the Islamic calendar), charities, pilgrimage feast, prayers for the rain, Mevlid (Islamic poetry reading), Hıdrellez (a kind of seasonal celebration) and similar practices. Preparation and consumption process of keşkek bears a collective character. Particularly in village communities, preparation of ingredients and cooking process of keşkek are actualized through collective work. The villagers contribute to keşkek ceremony by providing the ingredients and participate in cooking process. Wheat and meat are the basic ingredients of keşkek. The main ingredients are provided by the household on special days for the family and the dwellers of the village provide the work force if needed. The wheat for keşkek, of an amount proportional with the number of participants, is washed with prayers a day before the wedding ceremony. Accompanied by davul-zurna (traditional Turkish musical instruments) the wheat is carried carefully to a large stone mortar. The wheat is hulled on the large stone mortars by two or four persons using gavels in a fixed rhythm. The rhythmic sound is a sign for the start of wedding ceremony. The hulled wheat is one of the main ingredients of keşkek to be prepared on the wedding morning. Meat is the other main ingredient for keşkek. Cooking keşkek requires specialized knowledge therefore it is carried out by experienced persons called ""keşkekçi"" (keşkek maker). Keşkekçis are trained in a master-apprentice tradition. Cooks and his assistants in charge of keşkek cooking start the preparations at early hours in the morning of the day before the ceremony. As weddings - the primary occasions for ceremonial keşkek tradition – are usually held during summer or early autumn, keşkek is usually cooked outdoors. Requiring a long-lasting source of heat, keşkek is cooked in large copper cauldrons, the bottom of which is smeared with ash to protect it before being put on a big open fire. Hulled wheat, chunks of meat on the bone, onions, spices, water and oil are all put together in the cauldron. It is important to maintain the heat at a certain temperature while cooking. Therefore, cook and the assistants take turns to maintain the cooking process as desired until morning. Watching the heat and preparation of the side dishes to be served with keşkek last all night long. This night spent around the keşkek is full of stories, friendly talks and jokes. The cook checks the keşkek cauldron in the morning of the wedding day. Towards noon, the most important phase of the keşkek tradition takes place. The strongest of the village youth, who were previously chosen for ‘keşkek dövme (keşkek beating)’, are called in to ‘beat’the keşkek with a wooden tool which can be named as ağaç kepçe (wooden ladle) tokmak (gavel), çomça or şişe. This is in a way a mashing process. The rhythm while hulling the wheat goes on during the beating process as well. The wooden tools are used in a rhythmic order. The beating process of keşkek attracts great interest among the crowds. To motivate the beating youth, the crowd cheers and sings folk songs. During the beating, one or two persons apart from the beating youth take the bones out with a special kind of tongs. The neighboring towns and villages are invited and keşkek is collectively consumed in the ceremony premises (courtyard of mosque for religious holidays, bride’s or groom’s house on wedding days, a sacred venue for charities and hıdrellez). Prayers are uttered before and after the feast. The pots and pans used during ceremony are collectively washed. A special set of equipments are necessary for the preparation of keşkek. The stone mortar, a collectively owned product of particular craftsmanship, a copper cauldron made especially for such ceremonies and tinned regularly. Hand made ladles and gavels made of wood are among the most important tangible elements of the keşkek tradition. The most significant aspect of the tradition is unifying all people in this ceremony regardless of age, ethnic origin, gender and culture even being invited or not. The hosts of the ceremony check whether all the guests are at the dining table for keşkek. Each person attending to keşkek ceremony is considered as an element of this cultural environment. All individuals within the community through participating in such a ceremonial event have a sense of belonging. This ‘sense of belonging’ reflects itself with the common expression ‘our keşkek is better’, which is a bare evidence of considering keşkek as an important element of cultural heritage. Keşkek ceremony should be practiced with all the components of the tradition or else it loses its traditional aspect for the bearers. In Zonguldak-Ereğli on the west coast of Black sea Region, there is a village named ‘Keşkek’. People from the neighboring villages go to this village, which is a developed locality among the surrounding places, in order to worship on Holy Friday and the visitors are served keşkek there. This clearly explains why the village is called ‘Keşkek’. The villagers see keşkek as a major part of their cultural identity and they are glad to have the name keşkek for their village. Today, this ceremonial tradition, through organizing keşkek festivals and festivities has been preserved by the intimate efforts of city and district municipalities and the hemşeri (locality fellowship) associations, founded by fellow citizens for creating a kind of solidarity. It is observed in these occasions unifying aspects of ceremonial keşkek tradition continues in the cities as well. Preservation of this tradition in the cities is particularly important in terms of how much this tradition is embraced by the communities concerned.

Turkey 2011

Kyrgyz wresting ‘Kurosh’ is one of the most ancient types of wrestling of the Kyrgyz people. Athletes wear belts and white loose pants without a shirt on. Wrestlers stand one in front of another and hold each other by the belt with both hands. A wrestler must have at least one hand on the belt of his opponent during the match. One cannot grab opponent’s legs with hands but foot sweeps are allowed. The one whose thigh, body or head touches the ground first loses. If athletes fall simultaneously and it is unclear who touched the ground first – the match starts over.

Production of folk musical instruments in Uzbekistan and traditions of performance. The history of traditional folk musical instruments of Uzbekistan is incredibly rich and diverse. Rubab is a string bow instrument. It has a wooden convex body (round or oval in shape), a leather deck, 4-6 intestinal, silk or metal strings, usually tuned in quarts, and resonating strings. The most common rubabs are 800-1000 mm long. Sound is extracted usually by plectrum. The Uzbek orchestra of folk instruments includes 3 varieties of rubabs: prima, viola, tenor. Varieties of rubab are found in various peoples of the East: Afghan, Dulan, Kashgar, Pamir and other rubabs. It is also known that the rubab is played in North Africa and in the southern provinces of Spain. It was borrowed to Europe in the XII century under the name of Rebra. In Turkey, there is a three-string rubab. Among the Persians it is called "Rabet Barbitus".

The most important celebration for Mongolian people since ancient times is the traditional three manly sports (naadam). During this important celebration there is wrestling among men, which tests men’s strength and wit. Archery tests the skills of marksmanship. The horse race tests the racers’ swiftness and hardiness. They are performed according to the customary rules. The wrestlers are garbed in sporting uniform. The archers are garbed in specific dress. The manes and tails of racing horses are fastened together with strips as decorations. There are certain numbers of ceremonial movements. Every sportive feat is eulogized. These are rooted in very ancient traditions. Every winner in wrestling, archery, and horse-racing has titles and epithets.

Mongolia 2010

Kazakh traditional Assyk games are an ancient tradition in Kazakhstan. Each player has their own set of ‘Assyks’, traditionally made out of the talus bone of a sheep, and a ‘Saka’ dyed in bright colours. Players use their Assyk to knock out other Assyks from the field, and the focus is on the position of the bone. The community concerned comprises most of the population of Kazakhstan, including members of the Federation ‘Assyk Atu’ Game as well as the larger community of practitioners, mainly children aged between four and eighteen. The element is an outdoor activity that helps develop children’s analytical thinking and physical state, fostering friendship and social inclusiveness. It is also a good model for positive collaboration, uniting people regardless of their age, ethnic background or religious affiliation. It is widely practised at festive celebrations and gatherings, and the community plays a key role in safeguarding the practice, as well as in popularizing it among other ethnic groups in Kazakhstan, turning it into a national symbol of childhood. It is transmitted from older boys to younger ones through observation, as well as through radio and TV documentaries aimed at encouraging children to play Assyk and acquainting people with their cultural heritage.

Kazakhstan 2017

The three-day pilgrimage to the St. Thaddeus Apostle Monastery is an annual event that marked its 64th anniversary in 2018. The pilgrimage is a community celebration held in July with the participation of the Armenian communities of Iran and Armenia and other countries. The pilgrimage is inclusive for those who wish to attend: clergy, community leaders, regional and local governmental officials, laypeople, artisans, people with disabilities in search of a healing power from the Lord that may be granted to them with mediation through the holy spirit of St. Thaddeus, children and the elderly. The pilgrims gather for religious celebrations and special cultural, folk and educational performances. In Iran, busses and caravans transport individuals from Tehran, Isfahan, Tabriz, Salmas and Urmia to the St. Thaddeus Apostle Monastery. Hundreds of pilgrims attend the event from all over Armenia, including the capital city, Yerevan, other cities and bordering towns and villages to Iran. Hundreds of tents are erected in the countryside for more than 6000 pilgrims who attend the three-day ceremony from Iran, Armenia and overseas. The pilgrimage venerates two prominent Saints: St. Thaddeus, the Apostle of Christ, and St. Santukhd, the first female Christian Martyr. The commemoration ceremony includes special liturgies, processions, prayers, homilies and fasting. It culminates in a divine liturgy (Holy Mass) with Holy Communion and the anointment of the water blessed with Holy oil. Special times are set aside for traditional Armenian folk performances that include special music and songs. Artisans and craftsmen demonstrate their works of art at special stands. Ethnic Armenian dishes and delicacies are served at appointed times during the Pilgrimage.

Armenia,Iran 2020

It is a combined genre consisting of a dutar making craftsmanship with creative abilities including a composing of music and performing of dutar’s music sat down accompanying by singing. A dutar is a two-stringed, long necked lute consisting of a pear-shaped resonator (body) covered by thin wooden sounding board. The turkmen dutar’s resonator and soundboard are made from mulberry wood prepared from dried bole of the tree no less than 50 years old and the neck of apricot wood. Most melody’ notes are played on the upper of the dutar’s two strings with the four fingers of the left hand. The dutar is an inseparable part of culture of the turkmen people where it is found in all of the main genres of turkmen music and singing. Performers of the turkmen dutar‘s music and singers are divided into 2 groups. A dutar player named as a dutarchy is performing only dutar’s music. A bagshy is a peformer of dutar’s music accompanying by singing of the different genres of poetry which also subdivided into 3 types according to their performing styles and repertiores. A yanamachy bagshy is only a singer accompanied by music performed by dutarchy. A tirmechi bagshy is a performer of different genres of the turkmen music accompanying by singing. A dessanchy bagshy is an epic perfomer incorporating narrating, singing, vocal improvisation which in its performances a prose and poetry are alternated.

Turkmenistan 2021

Starting with ritual observances which involve singing and dancing in the temples of Manipur, Sankirtana encompasses an array of arts performed also in the home and the street to mark occasions of religious import and stages in the life of the Vaishnava people inhabiting the Manipur plains. The theology and lore of Krishna is central to these performances, but they assimilate in their rendering formal features carried over from music and dance in Manipur’s pre-Vaishnavite past. The core of Sankirtana practice is to be found in the temple, where it narrates through song and dance the lives and deeds of the Lord. These are typically presented in the round, in a hall (Mandapa) attached to the temple before devotees. The main repertoire consists of Nata Pala, which is performed all over the Manipur valley. The Ariba Pala and Manohar Sai Pala, less often in evidence today, are also temple-centred. Outside the temple, Sankirtana assumes forms such as the Holi Pala celebrating the festival of colours in springtime or Shayan performed in the winter months. Khubak Eshei is celebrated within the temple during the rains, marking the chariot festival of the Lord. In the setting of the home, Sankirtana is offered as prayer at all life-cycle ceremonies, such as the ear-piercing ritual (for both males and females in childhood), the donning of the sacred thread (for adolescent males), marriage, and the rites of passage at death. Thus pervading the life of the Manipuri Vaishnava, Sankirtana is regarded as the visible manifestation of God.

India 2013

‘Sada Shin Noh’ is a performing art expressed by the people’s dance-like movements to musical instruments such as drums to re-enact the power of the deity with which the people are blessed. It is always performed on September 24th and 25th every year on a special stage, called Gakuden, constructed within the precincts of the Sada Shrine which is the tutelary presence of the community. During these two days at Sada Shrine, people replace the rush mats, called Goza, with new mats on which the deities seat themselves. The replacement re-enacts the deities’ power. During the performance of ‘Sada Shin Noh’, a ritual dancer performs with Goza in his hand. The Goza are purified by this dance. People consider that ‘Sada Shin Noh’ is indispensable to the re-enactment of the deities’ power. ‘Sada Shin Noh’ is also performed at other neighbouring shrines, whenever requested. The repertoire, choreography and music in ‘Sada Shin Noh’ are traditionally fixed. ‘Sada Shin Noh’ is accompanied by flute music, three types of drums and singing. The players sit down around the stage, and the dancers perform at the centre of the stage. The repertoire performed in this performing art is classified into three categories. The first seven numbers belong to Category I. The performers do not wear masks, and perform the ritual dances with swords, holy wooden sticks, and bells in hand, depending on the number. In the ritual dance, Gozamai, the dancers perform with the rush mats for the deities in their hands in order to purify them before serving them to the deities. Category II has the three ritual dances performed with a mask of an old man. It is said that these dances were performed in Kyoto in the early seventeenth century. Category III has twelve numbers called Shin Noh which are performed with a mask of a deity. Japanese myths are depicted through these dances. This composition of dances is a typical example of Japanese performing arts. However, the main feature of ‘Sada Shin Noh’ is the dance of purification of the deities’ seats. People believe that ‘Sada Shin Noh’ should be regularly performed in order to re-enact the power of the tutelary deities in the community. ‘Sada Shin Noh’ is natural and nothing special in the daily lives of the people around Sada Shrine who share the worship. ‘Sada Shin Noh’ is an interaction between people and the deities that supports and guarantees a rich and peaceful future for the people, their families, and the community, making the social and cultural functions of “Sada Shin Noh” significant. The people who worship Sada Shrine as a tutelary presence are eager to transmit ‘Sada Shin Noh’ to the future. They have practiced diligently to acquire the skills needed for their performances, and have been publicly approved by the people of the community. Those who are in charge of the transmission of ‘Sada Shin Noh’ are first, the members of the Association for the Preservation of Sada Shin Noh. They are ordinary citizens engaged in respective jobs, but they practice regularly and have acquired the traditional performance formula. They bear a direct responsibility to perform it in a traditional style in public. Second are Shinto priests, who maintain the Sada Shrine. They have the responsibility of offering the opportunity and place for the public performance of ‘Sada Shin Noh’. Third are people inside and outside the community, who consider it necessary to continue transmitting ‘Sada Shin Noh’ to the future. They appreciate the public performances of ‘Sada Shin Noh’, and make financial contributions to the Shrine and the Association from time to time. The people of the community have long regarded ‘Sada Shin Noh’ as an important performing art. Designated as Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property by the National Government in 1976, it has been widely recognized in Japan as an important element of the Japanese cultural heritage that indicates the transition of the Japanese lifestyle. The transmitting group and community consider ‘Sada Shin Noh’ as one of their own distinctive cultures of which they are proud. By transmitting and performing it in public, it offers them an opportunity to renew a sense of identity with the community and society, thus contributing to its continuity.

Japan 2011

‘Mibu no Hana Taue’ is an agricultural ritual in which people worship the deity of rice fields, and pray for a good growth and abundant harvest of the rice crops for the year through ploughing fields, and transplanting rice seedlings. The Mibu community, located in a mountainous area of Western Japan, has developed and transmitted “Mibu no Hana Taue.” Both the Mibu and neighbouring Kawahigashi communities have been areas of rice cropping for a long time ‘Mibu no Hana Taue’ is carried out on the first Sunday of June every year after actual transplantations in the community are completed. Villagers gather at a large rice field, specially kept in reserve for the ritual. The deity of rice fields is welcomed, and a series of agricultural works such as ploughing, preparation for the transplantation and the actual transplantation are demonstrated in the presence of the deity. On the day of the ritual, villagers bring more than a dozen cattle to Mibu Shrine to be dressed with elaborately decorated saddles called Hanagura and a colourful necklace. The cattle are then equipped with agricultural implements called Manga, and pulled into the rice field, following a man with a sacred stick in his hand. The man who manages the first cattle in line is called Omouji or Omouji-zukai. He skilfully controls the cattle to plough the rice field. This is an honourable role in ‘Mibu no Hana Taue.’ When most of the ploughing is completed, girls called Saotome begin to prepare for the transplantation. They wear colourful dresses, and hats called Suge-gasa. They take the seedlings that grow at the edge of the rice field and put them into a case called Naebune while singing a song under the conduct of an elder man, called Sambai. After the ploughing and preparation for the transplantation are completed, a man called Eburitsuki begins to level the rice field with an implement, called Eburi. It is said that the deity of rice fields rests on Eburi. Transplantation begins in the presence of the deity. Saotome aligned with Sambai transplant the seedlings one by one, walking backwards. While the Sambai sings a leading song, locally considered as a parent song, with lengthwise-cut bamboo called Sasara in his hands, Saotome sing another song, locally considered as a child song. Eburitsuki and the person who carries the seedlings in Naebune follow Saotome, and level the rice field as the seedlings are planted. A musical band follows them, and plays the drums, flutes, and small gongs accompanying the songs of Sambai and Saotome. Once the transplantation is completed, Eburi is placed upside down in some water, and three bunches of rice seedlings are put on it. Some say that the deity of rice fields resides in this Eburi, while others say that the deity launches from it and goes back to the heavens. In this way, an abundant harvest of rice can be expected. ‘Mibu no Hana Taue’ has been transmitted as an agricultural ritual indispensable to the Mibu and Kawahigashi communities. The people in both communities gather for this ritual to transplant the rice seedlings in the presence of the deity of rice fields, and pray for an abundant harvest. The ritual features the fundamentals of the Japanese lifestyle and culture that make the ritual’s social functions and meanings important. The farmers and local people of the Mibu and Kawahigashi communities have preserved and transmitted ‘Mibu no Hana Taue’ as an agricultural ritual. The elderly called Sambai are in charge of a smooth execution of the entire ritual. They are familiar with the songs and music for rice planting, and belong to the Association for the Preservation of Mibu no Hana Taue. Some even say that the deity of rice fields rests upon them. ‘Mibu no Hana Taue’ is an agricultural ritual carried out on a specially reserved rice field by habitants of the Mibu and Kawahigashi communities together in a vibrant way every year. It is said to have declined during the Meiji period. Later, however, people became eager to pass it on the future generation as a valuable element of cultural heritage, and the ritual has become quite active up to today. Therefore, the people in both communities consider the ritual as part of their own cultural heritage. ‘Mibu no Hana Taue’ dates back to before the Edo period, and has been transmitted from generation to generation. The people in the Mibu and Kawahigashi communities have gathered every year to transplant rice seedlings at the season of rice transplantation when rice cropping enters its crucial stage. It inevitably gives them a sense of identity. The ritual assures an abundant harvest in these communities. As a result, it gives them a strong sense of continuity. In order to pass down the knowledge and skills concerning ‘Mibu no Hana Taue’, practice sessions of the ritual’s songs and music are held regularly for the pupils at Mibu Elementary School. Many of the current Saotome and music players also come from these practice sessions.

Japan 2011

Float festivals are communal festive events in which all members of the communities get together to pray for peace in the communities and protection from disasters. At the heart of the festivals is the procession of floats bearing creative decorations that showcase the diversity of local cultures. Community members derive their pride and identity from the float festivals that are the biggest single festive event of the year for them. The oldest float festival dates back to the 9th century, but most of the festivals began after the 17th century and spread to various regions. Local people in these regions then modified the festivals with their own creativity. Floats are huge constructs pulled or shouldered by members of communities. They are inhabited by the gods honored in the festivals or are meant to entertain and appease these gods. The techniques of making and repairing floats have been transmitted for centuries by craftsmen such as carpenters, lacquer artisans and dyers. Furthermore, efforts are made to preserve the natural environment when securing materials for the floats; these sustainable methods have been handed down through many generations. The festivals’ most significant feature is the communities’ devotion to the preparation and celebration of the festivals. Community members including men, women, the young and the elders share their tasks and responsibilities all year around preparing for the float festivals, the most important event of the year for them. Float festivals therefore foster communication and teamwork between community members, and play vital roles in uniting them.

Japan 2016