In the Buryat tradition (and in the Mongolian as well), “shamans” were not pure shamans in the classical sense of the word. Those involved with medical affairs were considered mediums between the lower sphere of the Eternal Blue Sky (Khukhe Monke Tengeri) and land inhabitants. Eternal Blue Sky worship was a traditional religious belief of Mongolians. Cross-cultural influences with the neighboring Tunguso-Manchurian people, whose religious traditions may be identified as classical forms of shamanism, introduced the ideas of ‘shaman’ and ‘shamanism’ to the Mongols.

Sri Lanka has a diverse dancing culture where three main styles represent the classical dance tradition. These styles are known as Kandyan dances of the hill country (Uda Raṭa Nätum), the low country dances (Pahata Raṭa Nätum), and the mid-country (Sabaragamuva Näṭum). These three classical dancing styles are transmitted across generations with their ritualistic identities that are unique to movements, motions, costumes, and instruments. In the context of mask dancing, it is more relevant to the low country style, which is highly ceremonial and performed for ritualistic offerings to various devils. The dancers wear masks portraying many characters in different forms of spirits according to their characteristic features.

Hills resembling a dragon tail, composed of arenaceous soft mud stretching for several miles, scarce but fresh and lush vegetation, springs with ice-cold water spouting from the heart of the earth, waves of the salty lake gently crashing against the shore, magnificent white clouds soaring up in the sky and the numerous pilgrims, lined up one by one, treading right upon the “dragon tail” and making their pilgrimage through the sacred site Manjyly-Ata.

One of the brightest folk festivities, is the Navruz spring holiday festival. Navruz, celebrated on 21 March symbolizes the universal date of birth, for when the departure of winter and arrival of spring was interpreted as the rebirth of nature. Its origin is connected to ancient astronomical observations which are based on solar and stellar motion as well as the motion of the moon. Ideas of peace, solidarity, prosperity, and mercifulness are reflected in each festive Navruz ritual.

Learning oral epic traditions means learning people’s lifestyle, traditions, customs and history, their present and future, their way of thinking and their spirit. Specifically, it means understanding the originality of a nation, its qualities, wishes, way of living and outlook or, in other words, learning the oral traditions of a nation means to study the nation itself. The process of modernising our present morals depends on how we have studied literary heritage, including the originality and degree of mythology in oral epic traditions. For this, initially we need to learn, investigate and research ancient mythological imaginations of our people and their oral narrative traditions, which are the base for art and literature. Oral epic works present the literary history of any nation.

The subject of this study is to find out the protection and sustenance ways of Shaman heritage among the Turks of Turkey. As it is known, Turks of Turkey are shaman community in terms of ancient religions and world-views such as Kazakhs, Uighurs, Uzbeks, Turkmen, Altai, Republic of Tuva, Sakha and other Turkish tribes constituting the Turkish World. Majority of the Turks of Turkey migrated from the middle of today’s Mongolia to the shores of Aegean Sea and Balkan Peninsula in the last 1500 years. Another factor complicating this 1500-year migration is the fact that Turks accepted Manichaeism, Buddhism, Christianity and some groups accepted Judaism. Normally while it was expected that they pursued various religions and dispersed in this tens of thousands kilometer square, these Oghuz tribes weren’t assimilated and they assimilated many communities whose administration they undertook within the scope of their control.

Traditional Indonesian batik was listed by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity on 2 October 2009. The unique and exquisite designs created by the artistic minds of citizens centuries ago, express their reverence to life and nature by painting cloth with symbols and characters bearing the philosophies of life.

It is imperative that the material development of a country be linked with cultural development. Such cultural development should pave the way to develop an integral citizen with knowledge, skills, and positive attitudes enabling him or her to appreciate and honor others’ traditions and beliefs. If not, material development and the connected technology will create an inhumane and disoriented person bent on disruption. A rejuvenated man from contemporary cultural decadence will be created through proper educational methods, righteous religious philosophy, true mass media application, and appropriate arts and cultural practices and applications. Janakaraliya drama and theater arts program primarily supports the development of a proper education system and application of arts and cultural practices.

Throughout the years, I have been researching Korean recreational activ-ities, and among them, the tug-of-war was definitely the most central theme. According to my research, the Korean tug-of-war has many different fea-tures following the different regional characteristics, but they also have similar patterns. Although it is possible to speculate that the diverse characteristics of each region’s tug-of-war is due to the area’s geo-ecological, sociocultural, and magi-co-religious factors and culture exchange, it is difficult to prove these factors in depth. Thus, this paper examines the diverse features present in the tug-of-war through studies completed up to now. Also I would like to add that the only intent for the tug-of-war studies was to compile and examine them in this report. Despite many methods in examining the diversity of tug-of-war, this paper sets a few standards to reveal the present features, and with these standards, the meaning of Korean tug-of-war can be understood.

The Taumako voyaging arts include a wind-position based, systematic model of wayfinding, complex swell patterns not yet reported for other traditions, weather modification, and ancestral lights that signal the direction and distance of land. In this paper I observe that transmission of the ancient voyaging arts has promoted cultural fulfillment, and can result in greater resiliency and sustainability once a basic skill levels have been mastered and partnerships between islands have been re-established.

List of ICH Festivals applied for the Silk Roads Living Heritage Network Membership

Bergendang is an arts and culture collection inherited by the Sarawak Malay community. It serves as a casual entertainment that educates, entertains, and criticizes the behavior of the community, by conveying messages through Pantun by Seh Gendang and Penandak .