UNESCO inscribes Myanmar’s Water Festival as Intangible Cultural Heritage
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NP News - Dec 9
At the 19th session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, held in Asunción, Paraguay, on 2-7 December 2024, Myanmar’s “Traditional Ata Thingyan Festival” has been officially added to the world list of intangible cultural heritage.
Deeply rooted in cultural and religious traditions, Myanmar usually celebrates the Thingyan Water Festival in April. As per the reachable records, Thingyan has been celebrated in Myanmar since the Tagaung period (estimated 1-10 AD) and it became famous during the Bagan period (estimated 12 AD) when Buddhism started flourishing in Myanmar.
Thingyan or the Water Festival, which is one of the vibrant celebrations that occur across the globe with different names, especially in the mainland of the Southeast Asian countries and southern China region, usually marks the beginning of the new year.
Golden Padauk, the national flower of Myanmar, is also a symbol of Thingyan Festival as usually blossoming in April, after Thingyan rain dropped just before the Ata Thingyan days. People of Myanmar celebrate the Thingyan Festival by gently splashing with the sprig of Eugenia and Padauk flowers to welcoming the auspicious new year days.
Thingyan rain: During the middle of the hottest summer season, rain usually falls in the second week of April which is just before the festival days due to the result collecting of moisture by the warm air. The moisture condenses later and it rains. As the raindrops fall into hotter and drier air, cooling is resulted from evaporating. Then, the hottest summer land has been cooling down.
Director General U Kyaw Myo Win from the Department of Archaeology and National Museum under the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Culture elaborated, “Now we have to make more effort to preserve our festival. The name Ata Thingyan itself has the essence of tradition saying Myanmar’s traditional Ata Thingyan Festival. We celebrate the Water Festival by gently pouring water with the small sprig of Eugenia and Padauk flowers. On the new year day, we do good deeds. We have to maintain such auspicious traditions in generations by generations not to deviate.”