Taungbyone Festival
taungbyone festival burmese တောင်ပြုန်းပွဲတော် also spelt taungbyon one wellknown festival among people myanmar held annually honour taungbyon nat brother two brother taungbyone village actually festival two pagoda name sutaungpyae built king anawrahta laterbuilt sutaungya pagoda festival designated celebrated two day eighth waxing day tenth burmese month wagaung time nat festival held alongside pagoda taungbyone festival crowded people coming various part country festival day august special ritual program carried day popularly spiritmediums dance major aspect festival occurs throughout day festival place take cult nat within sphere burmese theravada buddhism place seek fun one watch folk drama ceremonial dance find opportunity gamble socialize drink festival take place every year honouring spirit two brother taungbyone belonging burmese pantheon nats taungbyone village located kilometre mi north mandalay last royal capital burmese monarchy village situated central myanmar usually hot dry dusty population three thousand according governmental report festival free space village occupied temporary infrastructure massive temporary bazaar comprising stall every kind sell food fruit flower toy clothing tool craft trinket well restaurant sideshow theatre burmese traditional drama andor anyeint large crowd people shopping eating dancing carousing gambling ground draw many thousand security emergency service like police red cross firefighter put standby fight occasionally occur two pagoda sutaungpyae sutaungya situated north main nat shrine nat palace brother composed two pavilion first pavilion lie several statue nats two brother shwe hpyin nyidaw shwe hpyin naungdaw hne lay mandalay bodaw nowadays second pavilion holding ritual shower nat palace domain owned family whose member palace guardian also many secondary nat palace started built mids house spiritmediums traditional place brief account two taungbyone brother served army king anawrahta death given glass palace chronicle translated work covering several portion hmannan yazawin compelling story mythological motif dramatized expressed folklore nat thamaing legendary biography nat particular consequently could animate give life myth draw people attention scene myth reenact drama ritual performed muslim trader shipwrecked thaton two brother among reached city riding plank drifted ashore near thaton known byatwi byatta upon reaching shore took refuge monastery abbot resided venerated king manuha thaton kingdom monk took care kept near one day absence monk two brother cooked ate body dead zawgyi hermitlike supernatural power alchemist found chance forest preserved monk medicine could serve elixir life magical power gained extraordinary power news spread across kingdom finally reached ear king got worried sick thus ordered men capture king men seized killed elder brother dismembered body buried part around city wall protective charm enemy might attack seize city younger brother nevertheless escaped could flee bagan served king anawrahta later appointed flower officer superhuman strength rode steed daily get mount popa mile south bagan gather offer flower king returned girl named wunna mountain legend say floral ogress living mountain fell love begot two son known shwepyin brother grew served king mission make effort bring eyetooth buddha residing gandhala gandhalarit china return journey king army king elephant stopped knelt certain place taungbyon village king pagoda built named sutaungpyae king ordered men contribute personal service towards construction least work bringing laying brick pagoda pagoda completed king came conduct visual check found small empty space twobrick size pagoda asked king men told shwepyin brother anything help build pagoda played game marble instead punishment anawrahta ordered two brother beaten small cane actually beaten death large thick bamboo pole wayindote ဝါးရင်းတုတ် inherited extraordinary power father beat come harm last die testicle crushed however glass palace chronicle told simply death put death wayindot shwehpyin brother trusted sudden doomedtodeath became evil spirit stopped royal raft king return journey pagan put appearance king requested give site live fief king spiritpalace natshrine built near pagoda village taungbyon enfeoffed field around site annual festival since held celebrate three commemorative event held honour spirit taungbyon brother annually departure war december return march disappearance august last importance draw ten thousand people including number spirit medium natkadaws နတ်ကတော် participate hereditary obligation propitiation jolly sake festival start eight waxing day full moon wagaung roughly equivalent august lasting eight nine day altogether commemorative event st nd day homage nats ကန်တော့ခံ rd day night meeting royal council ညညီလာခံ th day ritual shower ချိုးရေတော်သုံး th day enthronement နန်းတက် th day hare hunting ယုန်ထိုး th day felling tree ထိမ်ခုတ် th day good sendoff pakhan nat ပုခန်းမင်းပို့ th day gilding statue ရွှေဘုံဆင်း nat festival start paying respect invocation nat first second day spirit medium taking role announcer sings specially designated song နတ်သံ nat similar ode retells life nat burmese traditional orchestra called hsaing waing play nat music seemingly possessed medium dance music medium dance major element festival occurs throughout day festival said third day official opening festival day night meeting royal council held displaying several ritual activity medium dance came fourth day festival celebrate ritual shower ceremony washing idol taungbyon brother general procedure start taking two statue palace place event statue washed alongside washing cleaning nats item like betel cup box carried royal palanquin ဝေါတော် men guardian militia procession led nat chieftain dignitary gong player play music line guard dressed army king anawrahta reaching pavilion ritual take place palanquin left entrance palace guardian shower two statue altar change clothes libation offering made part ritual afterwards return palace payingrespect two brother idol buddha carried rocking palanquin back forth direction pagoda called u taik ဦးတိုက် certain time fifth day merely called enthronement two effigy come back nat palace day ritual shower medium dance reigned throughout day hunting hare rabbit ritual remembrance two brother hare hunting lifetime used hunt hare rabbit stopped house village drinking water something eat trip old fellow offered roasted hare toddy palm juice brother return invited pay visit place go folklore since generation old man maybe villager natywakon village come offer nats roasted hare celebrated thirteenth day wagaung sixth ritual day festival day leading group villager carrying two sacrificial hare one hand young man chosen task present nat palace special ritual program walk around palace seven time anticlockwise direction top view arrival turning around palace also scream obscenity medium likely close door pas significant young male villager natywakon must shout obscenity rebellious side two brother nat brother known drunkard rowdy following stage group stop shed young man mentioned swing hare back forth seven time direction brother idol hare given pavilion dignitary come step palace go shed ritual young man done step finally enter palace melford spiro described process coming step step performed seven time hare offered two brother palace according skidmore roasted hare prepared salad eaten dignitary represent acquisition subversive aspect similar supernatural power two brother felling tree represents two brother taungbyone local people disapprove treeguardian nat caused death king anawrahta according legend thus symbolic retaliation treeguardian nat tree traditionally considered htein large hardwood tree bearing wingedfruit pod nauclea parviflora glass palace chronicle however mention legendary account king anawrahta killed nat put king death lein treespirit name felling htein tree htein treecutting ထိမ်ခုတ် traditionally used held fourteenth day month symbolic object cut actually tree two large branch erected somewhere palace compound advance ritual day water first poured ground around tree dignitary come circumambulate tree holding sword final step nat chieftain stand alone suddenly cut top branch sword quickly run palace holding piece cut branch crowd jump remains branch struggle fight one another get piece matter small branch torn bit gone piece branch believed bring good luck good harvest buried field full moon day two hundred buddhist monk invited offer meal income got paddy field owned two brother spent last event festival night full moon day event giving sendoff famous nat called pakhanmin u min kyaw held u min kyaw nat one significant belongs pantheon nats popular solo dance performed honour known bet cock fight renowned among natdance specific festival held month tabaung guni village ကူနီရွာ near pakhan magway region good sendoff u min kyaw nat festival said next morning first waning day wagaung last ritual gilding gold foil two statue brother held among nat festival festival important model others importantly held beyond regional level due large crowd people coming different part country reason need great organization fall within two domain two pagoda nat palace trustee pagoda control run site temporary infrastructure like stall theater well pagoda compound next lie nat palace surrounded large open space nat palace run guardian နတ်ထိန်း say descendant two chinese princess king anawrahta appointed guard palace family manages whole domain nat profit income festival shared among member family also another major position nat chieftain နတ်အုပ် head ritual position medium important role assisted medium considered highest dignitary respective title one wear baung hat worn minister monarchy system ဗောင်းဆောင်းအမတ် queen wear tho hat worn queen monarchy system သိုးဆောင်းမိဖုရား number minister queen throughout history festival distant past four queen one minister second world war four queen four minister served dignitary number went eighteen number started decline various type medium small number chosen medium allowed perform nat palace large number ordinary medium right perform find lodging outside nat palace compound traditional place main nat palace secondary palace built since dedicated nat among burmese pantheon nats skidmore monique burma turn twentyfirst century university hawaii press isbn spiro melford e january burmese supernaturalism transaction publisher isbn