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Southeast Asia
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The Dreaming Culture of the MandayaIn the Philippines, the Mandaya indigenous group is known for their gaudy and vibrant culture that has been preserved from successive generations and has withstood the colonizations that the country surpassed. The Mandaya people live in Mindanao, the second largest island in the Philippine archipelago, specifically along the mountain ranges of Davao Oriental. The term “Mandaya” comes from the word man, meaning “firs,” and daya, meaning “upstream.” In combination, Mandaya means “the first upstream people” and refers to the indigenous group’s language, traditions, customs, and beliefs.\n\nOne of the interesting aspects that makes the culture of the Mandaya distinct from other indigenous groups in the country is their culture of dreaming. The practice of weaving and the knowledge system on traditional medicine or healing in the Mandaya culture has been greatly influenced by dreaming. The Mandaya are famous for dagmay,their traditional textile, which they consider sacred. Dagmay designs are interconnected; cutting them will destroy the essence and sacredness of the fabric. According to the elders, dagmay was bestowed to the Mandaya through a dream by Tagamaling, a spirit linked to life and creation. It was believed that a Mandaya maiden dreamed of Tagamaling who taught her weaving techniques to create dagmay. From then on, the Mandaya believed that weaving is sacred, and a real Mandaya weaver will have to say a prayer before starting her weave. The Mandaya weavers only weave in tranquil areas in their houses.\n\nDagmay is a handwoven textile made from abaca. The abaca is the extracted fiber from banana leaves. Dagmay involves a mud-dyeing technique wherein practitioners submerge their tannin-dyed yarns into iron-rich mud for several days. First, they pound the bark of a tree and boil it with the abaca yarn. They then add the mud with a bluish color and let the yarn boil until their desired tone is achieved. With the intricate patterns and details of the dagmay, traditional Mandaya clothes have been known to among the most beautiful in the Philippine archipelago. The motifs of traditional Mandaya design include curvilinear, diamond, cross, trellis, and crocodile patterns.\n\nAnother Mandaya tradition influenced by dreaming is their knowledge system on traditional medicine or healing. In the Mandaya community, a spiritual leader called balyan has the ability to heal sick people through the use of traditional knowledge inspired from a dream, prayer called panawagtawag and organic medicines. The highest ranking spiritual leader, kalalaysan, can heal a dying patient. Within the Mandaya community, the ability to heal is not limited to spiritual leaders as it can be done by anyone. Anyone can dream of a cure, and he or she will become the healer of the sick people in the community.\n\nPhoto : A Mandaya Woman CC BY 2.0 Paul K / flickr.comYear2019NationPhilippines
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Vietnam’s Cultural Heritage Day, 23 NovemberCultural heritage in Vietnam is a valuable property of the Vietnamese people and the foundation for national traditions that have formed over many generations. With more than 40,000 cultural heritage elements and sites, Vietnam has highly respected treasures to be introduced to the rest of the world whenever possible. Taking care of cultural heritage means regarding what the past, present, and imaginable future have engendered to improve national identity.\n\nAfter Vietnam’s independence in 1945, and on behalf of provisional government of Democratic Republic of Vietnam, President Ho Chi Minh signed Decree No 65 on 23 November 1945. The decree formally mandates conserving antique vestiges, or what will later be known as cultural heritage. Based on the concept of conservation and to promote tradition and Vietnamese cultural heritage, the Prime Minister approved Decision No 36/2005/QD-TTg on 24 January 2005 to officially set 23 November as Vietnam’s Cultural Heritage Day. The November holiday is festive with many educational events that explain what it means to be responsible for protecting cultural heritage and why it is important to do so.\n\nTo celebrate this year’s Cultural Heritage Day, events are being prepared by relevant institutions. In the Ho Guom Cultural Information Centre, a photo exhibition on Vietnamese heritage will be held, featuring the winning photos of the 2017 Vietnam Heritage Photo Awards. The exhibition will take place in front of the center in Hanoi and will then move to other cities through March 2018. In the Vietnam Exhibition Centre for Culture and Arts,Green Heritage Culture and Tourism Week will be organized under the theme “The Convergence of Human and Nature”, gathering nationwide communities together to exchange and introduce their lasting cultural values.Year2017NationViet Nam
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Full Moon July in Vietnam: Wandering Soul’s Day and “Vu Lan” DayOver thousands of years, the Vietnamese have held a deep belief in the lunar calendar. Although most of today’s activities are scheduled in the Gregorian calendar, they still keep track of dates in the old way—many traditional cultural activities are organized based on the lunar calendar.\n\nThe fifteenth day of lunar July is known as Wandering Soul’s Day or “Vu Lan” Day (Parents’ Day) in Vietnam. This is Vietnam’s second largest annual traditional festival after Lunar New Year, and it is celebrated by participation in various religious rituals and humanitarian activities.\n\nCelebrations aside, lunar July brings a few fears to Vietnamese hearts too—it is also known as “Ghost Month.” Vietnamese people are very superstitious, and almost everyone believes in ghosts and spirits. Therefore, with all the hauntings, Ghost Month is thought of as an unlucky time and, it is considered a bad idea to do anything important during this period. This concept comes from folk beliefs related to Buddhism that during the first half of the month, the gates of the underworld are opened, allowing ghosts to roam freely on Earth and make trouble for the living. On the full moon, they have to return, and the gates are closed again.\n\nIn Vietnam, Wandering Soul’s Day is taken very seriously. All through Ghost Month, deceased relatives will find their way back to visit with the living. Offerings and prayers bring them back, and they will then bless their relatives. Meanwhile, “lost ghosts” that have no home, no offerings, and no prayers will wander around, lost and lonely. They may be ones without relatives, forgotten by descendants or dead without having been buried carefully. These things will make them cruel and place curses of bad luck on strangers. For that reason, the Vietnamese practice activities related to their beliefs in order to appease the ghosts, and not to upset or make them angry.\n\nVietnamese families will prepare two feasts during the fifteenth day of Lunar July. The first is offered early, usually at noon, to ancestors. The second, often offered sometime after sunset, is dedicated to the “lost ghosts.” This is the only day of the year that they can feast. Because they cannot eat proper food, the living often give the ghosts white porridge. Many people also visit temples to pray, some bring offerings and donations to feed these ghosts.\n\nIt may seem strange to most, but Wandering Soul’s Day also happens to be Vu Lan Day (Parents’ Day). Vu Lan Day began with the legend of Maudgalyayana (Buddha’s leading disciple), known as Muc Kien Lien in Vietnam. After his mother died, Muc Kien Lien, by means of his supernatural power, saw that she had been reborn as a hungry ghost in the realm of hell as a result of her evil actions in her past life. He pleaded with the Buddha to save his mother. Buddha instructed his disciple that only a combined effort by all Buddhist monks could soothe the suffering of the tormented soul. He then directed Muc Kien Lien to organize an assembly of monks so that Muc Kien Lien could make offerings for the benefit of his mother’s soul. Thus, the accumulated spiritual merits resulting from the prayers of all monks helped his mother awaken; consequently, she obtained liberation. Hence, the fifteenth day of Lunar July is when people pray for forgiveness for their parents’ misdeeds.\n\nPeople pay homage to their parents and ancestors, whether they are alive or dead. The custom is that you spend time thinking of your mother’s great heart and are thankful. People whose mothers have passed away will wear a white rose on their shirt during the day while others will have a red one. In addition, they will try to avoid killing animals and will eat only vegetarian food. They will also offer food and other items for the poor. This very simple custom is practiced widely throughout the country and is a very sacred and deeply unique mark of the Vietnamese culture.\n\nPhoto 1 : The offerings for ghosts © Hoang The Phuc\nPhoto 2 : Wearing roses in the Vu Lan Day ⓒ Hoang The PhucYear2019NationViet Nam
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ICH as a Metaphysical Product: The Case of Wualai Silversmith Village in ThailandWualai Silversmith Village is located along Wua Lai Road, Hai Ya, Muang, Chiang Mai, Thailand. The village is well-known for handmade silver products. People in the village have been making silver goods for a hundred years, after they moved from Bagan (an old city in Myanmar). After farming, most of the villagers spend their free time as silversmiths. Family members are involved in creating silver products for trade and their daily life. Almost every household is also a workplace for creating silver goods.\n\nNecklaces, bracelets, paddles, and trays are some of the most common products of the Wualai Silversmith Village. However, the silver bowl or salung is most representative of their identity. In the past, these silver products were used to represent family wealth, especially for a grand occasions. With unique and sophisticated patterns and styles of the villagers’ silver products, for example, Kratin flowers, pineapples, twelve zodiac signs, Ramayana figures, and animal patterns, Wualai silver products became famous.\n\nIn May 2018, I went to the village to observe the process of making handmade silver bowls and interview a number of silversmiths. The silversmiths explained that there are many steps in making a silver bowl, and it takes days or weeks to finish one. The most difficult stages are forging and carving. A few days are commonly needed to forge a silver bowl by hitting silver coins or bars. Those responsible for forging should be demonstrably strong, patient, and resilient against hot temperatures.\n\nOn the other hand, there are two kinds of carving expertise. One in creating the patterns; the other is in detailing the bowl to be seen as three-dimensional. Not everyone easily learns and practices these skills. This impracticality is why it is difficult to continue the practice of creating silver products in Wualai. In addition, the cost of materials has also caused a decrease in practitioners and successors.\n\nThe local government is now concerned about safeguarding this intangible cultural heritage element. To act upon the problem, they created a silver product safeguarding network, which includes schools, temples, and other relevant institutions. Local knowledge on making silver products has recently been introduced as a part of academic curriculum. Relevant pedagogical programs are offered in schools, temples, and non-formal educational centers. The Ministry of Culture of Thailand also promotes the safeguarding of silverware as a metaphysical product or something priceless and invaluable. This is specifically helpful to the Wualai walking street, a space built by the villagers to commercialize their products. The Wualai walking street is visible every Saturday, beginning in the late afternoon and ending before midnight.\n\nPhoto 1 : Forging a silver bowl in Wualai Village, Thailand © Ratchda Sukka\nPhoto 2 : Firing up silver molds in Wualai Village, Thailand © Ratchada SukkaYear2018NationThailand
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The Tradition of Acheik Weaving in MyanmarIn Myanmar, people wear traditional clothes, prominently acheik longyi (skirt) in events such as weddings, novitiation ceremonies, and national gatherings. When you find a lady wearing acheik longyi abroad, she is certainly from Myanmar. Myanmar people regard acheik textiles an important aspect of the identity of the people of Myanmar, representing tradition and practice of a thriving culture.\n\nLuntaya acheik is an indispensable item that projects the social status of women. The term lun means shuttle and taya means a hundred. Acheik, on the other hand, means connect, and it is also the term for tapestry weaving methods. So luntaya achiek is a kind of woven cloth with threads crossing under and over each other on plain textile using many shuttles. Acheik textiles have flourished since the nineteenth century CE. During the ancient period, achiek was used for royal costumes; ordinary people were not allowed to wear achiek. The highest ranking officials, royal services, and merchants could only wear achiek if the king rewarded them. Until now, achiek workshops are mainly based in Amarapura, Sagaing, and Mandalay in upper Myanmar.\n\nFor the weaving process, three of four raw silk threads are twisted tightly with the aid of a machine for tautness and smoothness. After that, silk-woven faces are removed by washing in boiling nut soap liquid. This step helps the fabric become softer than ordinary silk thread. While boiling the silk, colors can be added to dye the thread. And then, the dyed threads are washed with water and placed under the sun to dry. For weaving, the silk threads are kneaded onto bobbins, and then the bobbins are attached to the loom; the weavers will then weave the desired achiek patterns. Between one hundred and three hundred small bobbins are used to weave intricate and complex acheik designs. Traditional acheik have a lot of names according to the designs, depending on the color usage and the number of small bobbins. There are fifty-two kinds of classic achiek designs, and they are expensive as it takes many days of manual labor to produce achiek textiles.\n\nNowadays, cotton and silk are mixed and Achiek designs are modified to produce cheaper versions by weaving machine. Though handmade achiek textiles are expensive, Myanmar ladies proudly wear this classic design textile pattern for both special social and religious occasions. Since Myanmar people have worn acheik designs during special events and ceremonies since ancient times until today, Myanmar acheik continues to be a living heritage. The weaving practitioners relentlessly transmit their knowledge and skills to the young generation.\n\nPhoto 1 : Acheik fabrics CCBYSA3.0 Wagaung/Wikimedia\nPhoto 2 : Weaving acheik,/em> with small shuttles ⓒ La pyae\nPhoto 3 : Acheik weavers ⓒ La pyae\nPhoto 4 : Wearing acheik in a ceremony ⓒTheint kanmaYear2018NationMyanmar
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Peñafrancia, the 300-year-old Fluvial Procession Festival in the PhilippinesSeptember marks the celebration of one of the most famous and oldest festivals in the Philippines, the Peñafrancia where thousands of people flock to Naga City and show their fervent devotion to Our Lady of Peñafrancia, the patroness of Naga City in the Bicol Region. For more than three hundred years, religious devotees and pilgrims have attended the religious rites for the Peñafrancia Festival.\n\nThe Peñafrancia Festival involves two festivities. The celebration for the Divino Rostro or the Divine Face, usually held in the second week of September, is to pay homage to the image of Jesus Christ. People’s devotion to the Divino Rostro may have begun in 1882 during a sudden spread of cholera from Manila that reached Naga City. During that period, there was no cure for the epidemic, but according to the locals, when the image of the Divino Rostro was placed at the altar of the town’s cathedral, the epidemic astonishingly vanished. The weekend following the celebration of the Divino Rostro are the festivities for Our Lady of Peñafrancia. Due to the popularity of the Peñafrancia Festival, Naga has been dubbed the “pilgrim city” in the Philippines.\n\nDue to the 333-year Spanish colonization in the Philippines, various cultural traditions have been hemmed and blended into the country’s heritage particularly on religion. At present, almost 85 percent of the Philippines’ population are Roman Catholic. Thus, most festivals in the Philippines are associated with Catholic beliefs and traditions. The devotion of millions of Roman Catholics to Our Lady of Peñafrancia in Naga City every year is one of the most intense religious rites in the country. During the festival, a nine-day novena is dedicated to Our Lady of Peñafrancia. A ceremony called Translación marks the first day of the novena through a land procession to transfer the image of Our Lady of Peñafrancia to Naga Cathedral. The most awaited part of the festival is the ninth day of the novena when the image of Our Lady of Peñafrancia is returned to Basilica Minore in a fluvial procession along the Naga river.\n\nDuring the fluvial procession, images of Our Lady of Peñafrancia and Divino Rostro are boarded in a gazebo on a boat with Catholic clergies. The barge with the religious images is then followed by long canoes paddled by young men in colorful shirts. They paddle as fast as they can as though in a boat race. Only men are allowed to paddle the canoes, according to the beliefs of locals from the Bicol region, as women could trigger disaster. However, only chosen devotees (voyadores) can ride the canoes while the remaining devotees watch the procession on the shores of the river as they cheer “viva la Virgen.” A religious mass is held once the religious images arrive at the Basilica of Our Lady of Peñafrancia.\n\nPhoto 1 : A scene of Peñafrancia ⓒ Gregory Ian Nicerio Opeña\nPhoto 2 : A scene of Peñafrancia ⓒ Gregory Ian Nicerio OpeñaYear2018NationPhilippines
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Singapore’s Hungry Ghost FestivalThe seventh month of the lunar calendar is regarded as a month in which the gates of heaven and hell are opened so that ghosts and spirits, including deceased ancestors, can come back to visit the living in China and other Asian countries with Chinese migrants, such as Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Indonesia. The fifteenth day of the month is called Zhongyuan Jie (中元節) in China, Baekjung (百中) in Korea, Obon (お盆) in Japan, and the Hungry Ghost Festival in other countries. The day’s story origin derives from an old Buddhist tale about Mu Lian.1.\nMu Lian, one of Buddha’s disciples, converted to Buddhism after losing his parents at a young age. As his longing for his mother grew stronger, his clairvoyance found her suffering from ravenous appetites that could not be satisfied in hell. He tried to offer food to his mother, but the food burned into ashes when it touched her mouth. Mu Lian asked Buddha about how he could relieve his mother’s suffering. When he prepared food offerings as directed by Buddha, his mother was saved from suffering. This tale developed into a Buddhist ritual2. to offer food for ancestors and was combined with Taoist tradition to celebrate Zhongyuan Jie. At Zhongyuan Jie, people hold memorial services for ancestors and other spirits.\n\nIn Singapore, people prepare ritualistic food offerings and burn incense and joss paper in front of their apartments, stores, or companies for their ancestors’ visiting spirits. They murmur prayers while burning joss paper and go round in a circle with nobody else getting inside. Some even burn miniature paper houses, cars, and smartphones. Unlike most countries that hold traditional rites, the city-state celebrates Zhongyuan Jie in a more modern way. A getai3. is held at vacant lots or parking lots during the Ghost Festival. Getai performances were usually of Chinese operas or puppet shows in the past. Now they have evolved into various forms, including songs, dances, and stand-up comedy. A getai performance usually begins with jokes and comedy, using various languages such as Mandarin, Hokkien (a Southern Min Chinese dialect originating from Fujian Province), English, Malay, and Indian. The first row is left empty so that the spirits can sit and enjoy the performance comfortably. Although getai performances have been modernized, all the songs and dances serve the same purpose of consoling dead souls and pleasing the king of the underworld.\n\nDuring the festival, evil spirits come out with ancestral spirits. There are taboos to protect innocent people from evil spirits, such as going home late and swimming so as not to be pulled by water ghosts. People are also recommended not doing new things, like a trip, wedding, or risky movements, to avoid curses from evil spirits. They should spend their time in a more religious and controlled way than usual.\n\nSingaporean authorities have made various social and cultural efforts to preserve the Ghost Festival and pass it on to future generations. Singapore’s Taoist and Buddhist Federations have encouraged devotees to burn offerings responsibly as Nanyang Technological University scientists found that concentrations of small pollutant particles increased by 60 percent during the Hungry Ghost Festival, saying that it is not a case of “the more the merrier” since it is sincerity that counts. Singapore has grown based on coexistence and harmony among various peoples. As such, it emphasizes respect for different cultures even when enjoying a festival, highlighting that such celebrations should not be limited to a certain group. Collective efforts at all levels of society have made the Hungry Ghost Festival open to all people in Singapore. This festival provides lessons on how to discuss and resolve social issues and ethnic conflicts amid the progress of globalization.\n\nPhoto : Hungry ghost prayer table CCBYSA3.0 Mezanurrahman (Wikimedia)Year2018NationSingapore
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Mini-Museums in the Neighborhood: Singapore’s Street Corner Heritage GalleriesSingapore launched its second series of Street Corner Heritage Galleries for traditional trades and businesses on 22 April 2021. The scheme invites qualifying traditional trades and businesses with at least thirty years of history to collaborate with the National Heritage Board of Singapore (NHB) to co-curate heritage galleries to be hosted within the premises of these traditional trades and businesses.\n\nThe second series of heritage galleries showcases the rich and diverse heritage of traditional trades and businesses in the historical Kampong Gelam precinct, their products as well as their respective intangible cultural heritage (ICH) elements through mini mobile galleries featuring a write-up and the display of historical documents, photographs, objects, etc.\n\nUnder the scheme, NHB will partner qualifying traditional trades and businesses to carry out research and co-curate the mini galleries. NHB will also provide training and funding support for these trades and businesses to develop and offer heritage programs and to feature these programs in national and/or precinct-level festivals.\n\nThere are a total of seven traditional trades and businesses featured in the second series of NHB’s Street Corner Heritage Galleries. They include four food and beverage outlets, one perfumery shop, one Islamic products and perfumery shop, and one haberdashery store.\n\nThe scheme is part of NHB’s five-year master plan, Our SG Heritage Plan, which seeks to display heritage in everyday places to encourage greater public awareness and appreciation of heritage. The second series of Street Corner Heritage Galleries follows the first series, which was launched in 2020 and featured five traditional trades and businesses within the Balestier precinct.\n\nNHB will be extending the scheme to showcase more traditional trades and businesses in Little India in 2021 followed by Chinatown and Geylang Serai in 2022. Overall, NHB hopes to roll out the scheme to cover five different precincts and to co-create a total of thirty Street Corner Heritage Galleries across these precincts by the end of 2022.\n\nThrough the Street Corner Heritage Galleries scheme, NHB hopes to encourage traditional trades and businesses to document and showcase their heritage; develop a network of “mini-museums” across different precincts; and create surprising heritage encounters for visitors to each precinct as part of NHB’s placemaking efforts.\n\nTo find out more about the second series of Singapore’s Street Corner Heritage Galleries, please click on the following link: https://www.roots.gov.sg/stories-landing/stories/street-corner-heritage-galleries-kampong-gelam\n\nPhoto 1 : The family-run haberdashery shop, Sin Hin Chuan Kee, which sells zippers, thread, buttons, lace, and other assorted accessories. Courtesy of National Heritage Board, Singapore\nPhoto 2 : The family-run restaurant, Warong Nasi Pariaman, which specializes in nasi padang dishes. Courtesy of National Heritage Board, SingaporeYear2021NationSingapore
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MUSE SG Magazine Showcases Singapore’s Intangible Cultural HeritageThe National Heritage Board of Singapore (NHB) recently published the first issue of a two-part series of MUSE SG that focuses solely on Singapore’s intangible cultural heritage (ICH). MUSE SG is NHB’s outreach magazine that features museum and heritage related articles and is distributed to museums, schools, libraries, and public institutions free-of-charge.\n\nFor the two-part series on Singapore’s ICH, NHB has partnered with History Society students from the National University of Singapore (NUS HISSOC) to conduct research and co-create content. The partnership is part of NHB’s youth engagement efforts to interest the younger generation in different aspects of Singapore’s heritage.\n\nThe first ICH issue of MUSE SG introduces readers to the different categories of ICH as defined by UNESCO and explains how the ICH elements in these categories have become an integral part of Singapore’s multicultural identity. The issue is part of NHB’s continuing efforts to promote greater public awareness and appreciation of Singapore’s ICH.\n\nThe National Heritage Board of Singapore (NHB) recently published the first issue of a two-part series of MUSE SG that focuses solely on Singapore’s intangible cultural heritage (ICH). MUSE SG is NHB’s outreach magazine that features museum and heritage related articles and is distributed to museums, schools, libraries, and public institutions free-of-charge.\n\nFor the two-part series on Singapore’s ICH, NHB has partnered with History Society students from the National University of Singapore (NUS HISSOC) to conduct research and co-create content. The partnership is part of NHB’s youth engagement efforts to interest the younger generation in different aspects of Singapore’s heritage.\n\nThe first ICH issue of MUSE SG introduces readers to the different categories of ICH as defined by UNESCO and explains how the ICH elements in these categories have become an integral part of Singapore’s multicultural identity. The issue is part of NHB’s continuing efforts to promote greater public awareness and appreciation of Singapore’s ICH.\n\nVats containing soy beans undergoing fermentation in the production of soya sauce at Tai Hua Food Industries, 2020. Image courtesy of National Heritage Board, Singapore\nIt also features articles on selected ICH elements including traditional Malay dance, traditional Eurasian cuisine, traditional crafts such as effigy making, the production of soya sauce, the practice of rearing songbirds, the ancient healing practice of Ayurveda, and local practices in the commemoration of Easter.\n\nThe second ICH issue of MUSE SG, to be published in January 2021, will focus on the practices and rituals of Jewish Passover by the local Jewish community and the Zoroastrian faith as practiced by the Parsi community in Singapore.\n\nIt will also cover dondang sayang (a poetic art form associated with the Malay and Straits Chinese communities in this region), traditional Chinese music, traditional Nanyang breakfast (comprising toast with kaya spread, half-boiled eggs and a cup of hot tea or coffee) and the craft of Indian goldsmithing.\n\nTo access the first ICH issue of MUSE SG, please click on the following link: https://www.roots.sg/learn/resources/publications/education-and-community-outreach/MUSE-SG-Volume-13-Issue-01\n\nPhoto 1 : Muse Cover © NHB\nPhoto 2 : Vats containing soy beans undergoing fermentation in the production of soya sauce at Tai Hua Food Industries, 2020. Image courtesy of National Heritage Board, SingaporeYear2020NationSingapore
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Thailand’s Vow to Buddhism in the Hae Pha Khuen That FestivalDerived from a Buddhist belief, the Hae Pha Khuen That Festival is centuries-old and still practiced to today. The event is a gathering of Buddhists parading in streets, carrying cloth called pha bot to wrap around the stupa that houses the relic of Buddha. According to the legend, the tradition of wrapping cloth around the stupa originated during the reign of the King Si Thamma Sokkarat, the first monarch of the Tam Porn Link Kingdom and founder of Nakorn Si Thammarat. At that time, the stupa had been just built, and the king heard that some people on a voyage to Sri Lanka to bring pha bot as an offering had sunk into the sea due to a violent storm. The King then decided to bring the cloth to wrap around the newly made stupa to pay homage to Buddha and celebrate his new constructed relic house.\n\nNowadays, Hae Pha Khuen That takes place yearly at Wat Phra Mahathat Worramahawihan, a royal temple in Nakorn Si Thammarat Province in southern Thailand, where the aforementioned stupa is located. The event is held on the full moon day of the third lunar month (Makha Bucha Day), a religious holiday; it usually falls in February. This year, it will be held from 13 to 19 February 2019. The most important activity of the event is carrying the pha bot to warp around the main stupa, inside of which is the relic of Buddha. Locals of Nakorn Si Thammarat and people from other parts of Thailand are expected to take part in a parade carrying more than a thousand yards of yellow or white cloth from the main city to the temple and walk around the stupa three times before covering the stupa with the cloth. It is believed that participating in the activity brings good luck to life and families.\n\nIn addition to wrapping cloth around the main stupa, there will be lots of entertainment and cultural activities such as chants, sermons, meditation, food offerings, exhibitions, and a cultural product market as well as light and sound shows all day and all night during the festival. Hae Pha Khuen That is famous all over Thailand. In 2014, Hae Pha Khuen That Festival was inscribed by the Department of Cultural Promotion, Ministry of Culture, as National ICH in the category of Social Practices, Rituals and Festival. The festival has been in practice for generations, celebrating the blessing of and faith in Buddha.\n\nA festival guide for 2019 is available online at http://www.thaifestivalblogs.com/hae-pha-khuen-that-festival/\n\nPhoto : Hae Pha Khuen That Festival @ Department of Cultural Promotion of ThailandYear2019NationThailand
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Loy Krathong Festival of ThailandLoy Krathong Festival is a yearly event in Thailand on the full moon night of the twelfth lunar month, usually in November. This festival has a long history dating back to the Sukhothai era and continuously maintains its popularity in the present. It is a local ritual in honor of the goddess of water to get rid of misfortunes for a better future. During the festival, people gather by a river or canal float krathong, a basket made of banana trunk and leaves in the shape of a blooming lotus. This performance is more of a prayer that the krathong will take their hardships and bad luck far away. Traditionally, families make at least one krathong as beautiful as they can, decorated with various flowers, candles, and joss sticks. Strands of hair, nails, clothes, and money are sometimes placed in the krathong, too. Before floating it, people light the candle and joss sticks and make a wish, asking for forgiveness from the goddess of water for any deeds that may have disappointed her, and ask her to take their bad luck away.\n\nThis ritualistic performance is practiced throughout Thailand, though each location has its own way of performing it. There are also some fun activities during the festival such as the Best Krathong Competition to honor the most beautiful and creative krathong, Noppamas beauty pageant to crown a beautiful and smart girl (named after Noppamas, a beautiful consort of the King Lethai’s grandson during the Sukhothai era), fireworks display, traditional costume display, and many other traditional entertainment and performances.\n\nLooking into how the festival has been carried out over the last decade, people have come up with more resourceful and impressive ways to participate in the festival. Some have used foam or plastic and artificial decorations to make a lighter krathong that can float well on water. In response to global warming, people have also become more vigilant in using eco-friendly materials in creating Krathong. For example, a krathong-shaped bread has already been created for the festival; it didn’t leave waste on the water, and it also served as a fish food. Commonly, banana trunks and leaves have also been used to create krathong.\n\nPhoto : Loy krathong ⓒ Department of Cultural PromotionYear2018NationThailand
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Pambabatok: A Tattooing Technique of the Butbut Tribe in the PhilippinesWhang-od Oggay, a 102-year-old woman from a mountain tribe in the Philippines, is a living instrument in the continuity of pambabatok, an endangered ancient tattooing technique that chiefly constitutes hand-tapping to create figures on the skin. Believed to be the oldest tattoo artist and the last linkage of her tribe to pambabatok, Whang-od became famous in the internationally when she was featured by Dr. Lars Krutak, an American anthropologist who was the host of Discovery Channel’s Tattoo Hunter in 2009. Pambabatok is argued to be at least a thousand year old intangible cultural heritage (ICH) element.\n\nWhang-od is called a mambabatok, derived from the root word batok that means “to hit”. For her hand-tapping tools, she uses a lemon thorn needle or siit that is attached to the end of a small bamboo stick and another shorter stick for tapping the thorn into the skin. The ink she uses is a mixture of water and soot. Pambabatok, compared to other conventional tattooing techniques, is relatively painful. It is done by applying rhythmic and repetitive pricks on the skin using her traditional hand tools. During my personal visit in Buscalan in 2015 to see Whang-od, I noticed that she will begin tattooing the tourists in the first light of dawn and she will only finish at dusk. There would be days when almost fifty people lined up to get tattooed by her. Sometimes she could not eat because of the blood and flesh that she had been tapping all day.\n\nThe traditional designs of her tattoos come from the symbols of nature and geometric figures significant to the Butbut tribe, an indigenous community living in the village of Buscalan, nestled in the lush terraces of the Cordillera Mountains of Kalinga, a province in the northern part of the Philippines. In the olden days, the tribe was known for their headhunting culture. Warriors battled for land and honor to protect their tribe and village. They would cut off their enemies’ heads and as a reward they would be inked with magnificent tattoos that exude valiance when they return triumphantly to their village. The females also received tattoos as a rite of passage and symbol of beauty. Their tattoos transform girls into women; the women thereafter become eligible for marriage and bearing children. The more tattoos women had, the more attractive they were to the men in the village. Some elders believed that the tattoos could also cure infertility and various illnesses. The culture of headhunting and combat slowly disappeared due to modernization and religious influences. Consequently, protecting the vitality of their ritualistic and performance-based practices never occurred to be a social agenda.\n\nWhen a journalist named Grace, niece of Whang-od, realized that the tattooing heritage will be completely lost when her aunt dies, the transmission of pambabatok. Recently, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) awarder her with the 2018 Dangal ng Haraya Award for Intangible Cultural Heritage to honor her contribution in raising awareness about the Butbut tribe and safeguarding an ICH element of the Philippines.\n\nPhoto : Whang-od Oggay © Royce Lyssah MalabongaYear2018NationPhilippines