A traditional sport, Kyun, is very popular for Rakhine people in Myanmar. This sport began from the reign of former Rakhine kings in history. Figure of Kyun sport can be seen on the walls around the cave of Shaitthaung Temple built by King Mong Bar Gri reigned in Mrauk-U in A.D 1531. Kyun sport, Rakhine wrestling, is a physical art for men Rakhine men are trained this art starting from childhood. The strong man who can wrestle well is regarded and honoured as "Kyun than" in Rakhine. Rakhine kyun sport is similar to wrestler in some way but it is quite different in rules and methods. A famous and outstanding Kyunthan had many difficulties to face and win rivals and matches. In this competition, there are two steps. A new one can compete only in the step of silver gong (Nge-maung-dan) and a successful and well-experienced one can continue to compete in the step of golden gong (Shwe-maung-dan). Famous Rakhine wrestlers are Nyalar U Tun San Phyu, U Lun Hla Oo (Nyalar U Tun S...

Thongran and Rakhine Culture By Saw Tun Oo Each year with the Sun’s entrance into the zodiacal sign of the Aries (Mesha), Rakhine New Year commences at about mid-April. New foliage freshen up the trees. Our world smiles with the blossoms of yellow ‘padauk’, bright-red peacock’s pride, and the perched thirsty soil craves for a sprinkle from the heaven. With it the spirit of our cultural renews. What we lost in the past, what we are losing today in our culture, tradition, literature, or the like – once again we realize that we are to remain content with our small aspirations, and yet smaller needs. Another annual get-together with our near and dear ones bringing smiles to our smile-less day-to-day existence. Rakhines of Bangladesh – those living in Cox’s Bazar, Patuakhali, Baraguna, Bardarban and Khagrachari districts – who bear testimony to a stormy period of the southern part of Bangladesh under the Arakanese rule extending from the fifth to the seventeenth centuries AD, have up...

By Tha Hla Inaugurated in Tangu, the first lunar month of the Rakhaing calendar, Thungran by definition is becoming anew and the term Mar Thungran means passing from one year to another, Traditionally there is a festival for each of the twelve months, some dedicated to pious observance and others to worldly ceremonies Unlike Wagvui lighting festival, Thungran is not characterized by solemnity or religious significance but it is the most popularly celebrated and enjoyed by all levels of the populace Nevertheless, for those who devote themselves to performing meritorious deeds as a matter of routine on any notable events, Thungran is no less a momentous occasion worthy of doing so since it heralds a new and prosperous year. And it is only befitting that the new Year is ushered in with water festival, the main feature of Thungran celebration, which symbolizes the feat of washing away the old year clean Beginning in the early half of April, the exact date being determined...

Water Festival or Thinkran  by Ashin Siri Okkantha The Festival is generally held in the month of Thankhu which is the first Arakanese month nearly corresponding to March-April. The water festival is very popular in Arakan and Burma, but Arakanese water festival is very different from the Burmese water festival. The cultural aspect influences the Arakanese water festival more, while the merriment aspect does so in Burma. Usually the ceremony is on 4th April yearly according to Arakanese calendar. The ceremony also commemorates the new year. Before a new year day, young women are invited to join the ceremony in a common house when the young man help them with necessary things required for the celebrations. The bachelors and virgins only gather together. As the young women make the fragrant essence, the young men play on the ground in front of the same house and sing songs happily. The next day in the evening, they go to the local monastery and pay their homage to...

The Funeral of Buddhist Monk by Ashin Siri Okkantha Temporary Temple  (Photo: က်ိန္းရိပ္ သဇင္) When a monk dies in the village, the villagers in the neighbourhood come to help and take part in the funeral ceremony. The dead body is not cremated on the same day. It is preserved with medicines first in a wood-made coffin, especially built for the purpose, for some months of about a year, keeping it visible to the public in a glass coffin where the dead body is shifted for cremation.   Singing the cradle-song (Photo: က်ိန္းရိပ္ သဇင္)   Before the ceremony is held, two or three pandals and more pandals built and then decorated with colourful flowers near the local monastery. The ceremony is generally held for three or seven days. The eldest monk or the eldest of his disciples start the ceremony by citing Metta Sutta and Asubha Bhavana. The dead body is replaced, as noted earlier, from a wooden coffin to a glass coffin before the ceremony. The young girls and...

Offering of Thin-bok Swoon a Rakhine Buddhist Festival Myanmar is a land of festivals which are usually connected with Buddhism, but although they are religious occasions there is also colourful dancing, lively music and songs. Often there are processions where the local people dress up in all their finest clothes and go to a pagoda to make offerings. Not only the Bama (Burmese) people but other ethnic groups like Mons and Shans and also Rakhines (Arakanese) who are really of the main Bama stock speaking a different dialect, all have festivals, some being purely local and only seen at specific places. On a recent tour of the Rakhine State by the Editors of the Myanmar Perspectives magazine, I was given an account of the Thin-bok Swoon Offering Festival which is held only by the Rakhine people, a month after the end of the Buddhist Lent which mark also the termination of the south-west monsoon, the rainy season. This festival is held every year on the Full Moon D...