Myanmar’s Thingyan inscribed in UNESCO’s tentative list of intangible assets

12/11/2024 13:00

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Khit/Saw (NP News) - Nov 12

U Kyaw Myo Win, Director General of the Department of Archaeology and National Museum under the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Culture (MORAC), told the NP News that the Myanmar traditional New Year Thingyan Water Festival has been inscribed on United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's (the UNESCO) Tentative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

According to the MORAC, Myanmar's traditional New Year's Ata Thingyan Festival is one step closer to becoming an Intangible Cultural Heritage of the world after being added to UNESCO's preliminary list.

“The listing is a crucial step in the process of gaining official recogni­tion. The inclusion of this item on the Tentative List is a positive development. If approved by the World Intangible Cultural Heritage Committee in December, it will be officially reco­gnized,” said U Kyaw Myo Win.

The 19th session of the Interg­overnmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage will take place in Asunción, Republic of Paraguay from 2 to 7 Dece­mber 2024 and will consider Myanmar’s nomination of the traditional New Year Thingyan festival.

The ministry has announced that among the submitted proposals, the Myanmar New Year and Thingyan festival have been included in the preliminary list for designation as a World Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO.