1.
Burmese language
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The Burmese language is the official language of Myanmar. Although the Constitution of Myanmar officially recognizes the English name of the language as the Myanmar language, Burmese is a tonal, pitch-register, and syllable-timed language, largely monosyllabic and analytic, with a subject–object–verb word order. It is a member of the Lolo-Burmese grouping of the Sino-Tibetan language family, the Burmese alphabet is ultimately descended from a Brahmic script, either Kadamba or Pallava. Burmese belongs to the Southern Burmish branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages, Burmese is the most widely spoken of the non-Sinitic Sino-Tibetan languages. Burmese was the fifth of the Sino-Tibetan languages to develop a system, after Chinese characters, the Pyu script, the Tibetan alphabet. However, several dialects substantially differ in Burmese with respect to vocabulary, lexical particles, the standard dialect of Burmese comes from the Irrawaddy River valley. Regional differences between speakers from Upper Burma, called anya tha အညာသား, and speakers from Lower Burma, called auk tha အောက်သား, occur in vocabulary choice, minor pronunciation differences do exist within the Irrawaddy River valley. For instance, for the term ဆွမ်း food offering, Lower Burmese speakers use instead of, the standard dialect is represented by the Yangon dialect because of the modern citys media influence and economic clout. In the past, the Mandalay dialect represented standard Burmese, moreover, with regard to kinship terminology, Upper Burmese speakers differentiate the maternal and paternal sides of a family whereas Lower Burmese speakers do not. Spoken Burmese is remarkably uniform among Burmese speakers, particularly living in the Irrawaddy valley. The figure would have much higher if non-Bamars were excluded. For the whole country, the rate was 49% for men and 5. 5% for women. The migration of Burmese speakers of Bamar descent to Lower Burma is relatively recent, as late as the mid-1700s, the Austroasiatic language Mon was the principal language of Lower Burma and the Mon people who inhabited it. After the Burmese-speaking Konbaung Dynastys victory over the Mon-speaking Restored Hanthawaddy Kingdom in 1757, by 1830, an estimated 90% of the population in the region identified themselves as Bamar due the influx from Upper Burma, assimilation, and intermarriage. In the British colonial era, British incentives, particularly geared toward rice production, as well as political instability in Upper Burma, more distinctive non-standard varieties emerge as one moves farther away from the Irrawaddy River valley toward peripheral areas of the country. These varieties include the Yaw, Palaw, Myeik, Tavoyan, despite substantial vocabulary and pronunciation differences, there is mutual intelligibility among most Burmese dialects. Dialects in Tanintharyi Region, including Palaw, Merguese and Tavoyan, are conservative in comparison to Standard Burmese. The Tavoyan and Intha dialects have preserved the /l/ medial, which is only found in Old Burmese inscriptions
2.
Buddhism in Myanmar
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Adherents are most likely found among the dominant Bamar people, Shan, Rakhine, Mon, Karen, Zo, and Chinese who are well integrated into Burmese society. Monks, collectively known as the sangha, are venerated members of Burmese society, with regard to the daily routines of Buddhists in Myanmar, there are two most popular practices, merit-making and vipassanā. The weizza path is the least popular, it is an esoteric form somewhat linked to Buddhist aspiration that involves the occult, merit-making is the most common path undertaken by Burmese Buddhists. This path involves the observance of the Five Precepts and accumulation of merit through charity. The vipassana path, which has gained ground since the early 1900s, is a form of insight meditation believed to lead to enlightenment. The weizza path, is a system of occult practices and believed to lead to life as a weizza. The history of Buddhism in Myanmar probably extends more than two thousand years, the Sāsana Vaṃsa, written by Pinyasami in 1834, summarises much of the history of Buddhism in Myanmar. According to the Mahavamsa, a Pali chronicle of fifth century Sri Lanka, Ashoka sent two bhikkhus, Sona and Uttara, to Suvarnabhumi around 228 BC with other monks and sacred texts, including books. An Andhra Ikshvaku inscription from about the 3rd century refers to the conversion of the Kiratas to Buddhism, early Chinese texts of about the same date speak of a Kingdom of Liu-Yang, where all people worshiped the Buddha and there were several thousand samaṇas. This kingdom has been identified with a region somewhere in central Burma, a series of epigraphic records in Pali, Sanskrit, Pyu and Mon datable to the 6th and 7th centuries, has been recovered from Central and Lower Burma. From the 11th to 13th centuries, the Bamar kings and queens of the Pagan Kingdom built countless stupas, the Ari Buddhism era included the worship of bodhisattvas and nāgas. Theravada Buddhism was implanted at Bagan for the first time as early as the 11th century by the Bamar king Anawrahta, in year 1057, Anawratha sent an army to conquer the Mon city of Thaton to obtain theTipiṭāka of the Pāli Canon. He was converted by a Mon bhikkhu, Shin Arahan, to Theravada Buddhism, Shin Arahans advice led to acquiring thirty sets of Pali scriptures from the Mon king Manuhal by force. Mon culture, from that point, came to be assimilated into the Bamar culture based in Bagan. Despite attempts at reform, certain features of Ari Buddhism and traditional nat worship continued, Burmese rule at Bagan continued until the first Mongol invasion of Burma in 1287. Towards the end of the 13th century, Buddhism declined due to the invading Tatars, in the 14th century, another lineage was imported from Sri Lanka to Ayutthaya, the capital of the Thai Ayutthaya Kingdom. A new ordination line, that of the Thai Forest Tradition, the Shan, meanwhile, established themselves as rulers throughout the region now known as Myanmar. Thihathu, a Shan king, established rule in Bagan by patronising and building many monasteries, the Mon kingdoms, often ruled by Shan chieftains, fostered Theravada Buddhism in the 14th century
3.
Samanera
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A sāmaṇera, Sanskrit śrāmaṇera, is a novice male monastic in a Buddhist context. A female novitiate is a śrāmaṇerī or śrāmaṇerikā, the sāmaṇera is a Pali language diminutive of the Sanskrit term śrāmaṇa strenuous, which indicates an ascetic practitioner. Therefore, sāmaṇera might be said to mean small or young renunciate, in some South Asian Buddhist traditions, the term refers to someone who has taken the initial pravrajya vows but not the upasampada or full ordination. The prātimokṣa rules do not apply to them and they do not take part in the recital of the rules on uposatha days, the word śrāmaṇerī is the feminine form of śrāmaṇera. The account provided in the literature of South Asian Buddhism is that when Gautama Buddhas son Rāhula was seven years old, he followed the Buddha, the Buddha called Sariputta and asked him to ordain Rāhula, who became the first sāmaṇera. This rule was expanded to include the spouses of those intending to join the Order of monks, in the Vinaya used by many South Asian Buddhist sects, a man under the age of 20 cannot ordain as a bhikṣu but can ordain as a sāmaṇera. Sāmaṇeras keep the Ten Precepts as their code of behaviour and devote themselves to the life during breaks from secular schooling. In other cultures and Buddhist traditions, monks take different sets of vows, the Ten Precepts upheld by sāmaṇeras are, Refrain from killing living things. Refrain from taking food at inappropriate times, Refrain from singing, dancing, playing music or attending entertainment programs. Refrain from wearing perfume, cosmetics and garland, Refrain from sitting on high chairs and sleeping on luxurious, soft beds. Ordination differs between sāmaṇeras and srāmaṇerīs, after a year or at the age of 20, a sāmaṇera will be considered for the upasampada or higher ordination as a bhikṣu. Some monasteries will require people who want to ordain as a monk to be a novice for a set period of time, adults would normally wear the white robes of a Brahmin. A woman is to be ordained, according to the traditional vinayas, after a year or at the age of 20, she will be ordained as a full bhikṣuṇī. Bhikkhuni committee of the ASA includes a resource of articles regarding Bhikkhunis Monastic Resources - Training Female Monks In Buddhism. Vinaya Pitaka, brief description includes Order of ordination for men and women
4.
Five Precepts
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The Five Precepts constitute the basic code of ethics undertaken by upāsaka and upāsikā of Buddhism. The precepts in all the traditions are essentially identical and are commitments to abstain from harming living beings, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, a precept is a general rule intended to regulate behaviour or thought. Undertaking the five precepts is part of both lay Buddhist initiation and regular lay Buddhist devotional practices and they are not formulated as imperatives, but as training rules that lay people undertake voluntarily to facilitate practice. They occupy a position somewhere between that of an ordinary lay follower and a monastic and similar to that of the sāmaṇerī. Pali literature provides the scriptures and commentary for traditional Theravadin practice, the following are the five precepts or five virtues rendered in English and Pali, For more on the first precept, see ahimsa. In the fifth precept sura, meraya and majja are kinds of alcoholic beverages, in some modern translations, Surāmerayamajjapamādaṭṭhānā, is rendered more broadly, variously, as, intoxicants, liquor and drugs, etc. He dwells with his rod laid down, his knife laid down, scrupulous, merciful, abandoning the taking of what is not given, he abstains from taking what is not given. He does not take, in the manner of a thief, abandoning sensual misconduct, he abstains from sensual misconduct. There is the case where a person, abandoning false speech. If he does know, he says, I know, if he hasnt seen, he says, I havent seen. If he has seen, he says, I have seen, thus he doesnt consciously tell a lie for his own sake, for the sake of another, or for the sake of any reward. Abandoning false speech, he abstains from false speech, and how is one made impure in three ways by bodily action. There is the case where a person takes life, is a hunter. He takes what is not given and he takes, in the manner of a thief, things in a village or a wilderness that belong to others and have not been given by them. This is how one is made impure in three ways by bodily action, according to the Buddha, killing, stealing, sexual misconduct and lying are unskillful. There is the case where a disciple of the ones, abandoning the taking of life. In doing so, he gives freedom from danger, freedom from animosity, in the next canonical discourse, the Buddha described the consequences of breaking the precepts. The format of the ceremony for taking the precepts occurs several times in the canon in slightly different forms, one ceremonial version of the precepts can be found in the Treatise on Taking Refuge and the Precepts
5.
Sangha
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Sangha is a word in Pali and Sanskrit meaning association, assembly, company or community and most commonly refers in Buddhism to the monastic community of bhikkhus and bhikkhunis. These communities are referred to as the bhikkhu-sangha or bhikkhuni-sangha. As a separate category, those who have attained any of the four stages of enlightenment, according to the Theravada school, the term sangha does not refer to the community of sāvakas nor the community of Buddhists as a whole. In a glossary of Buddhist terms, Richard Robinson et al. define Sangha as, the two meanings overlap but are not necessarily identical. Some members of the ideal Sangha are not ordained, some monastics have yet to acquire the Dharma-eye, the Sangha is the third of the Three Jewels in Buddhism. Due to the temptations and vicissitudes of life in the world, monastic life is considered to provide the safest and most suitable environment for advancing toward enlightenment, in Buddhism, the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha each are described as having certain characteristics. These characteristics are chanted either on a daily basis and/or on Uposatha days, the Sangha also fulfils the function of preserving the Buddha’s original teachings and of providing spiritual support for the Buddhist lay-community. The Sangha has historically assumed responsibility for maintaining the integrity of the doctrine as well as the translation and propagation of the teachings of the Buddha. Between midday and the day, a strict life of scripture study, chanting, meditation. Transgression of rules carries penalties ranging from confession to permanent expulsion from the Sangha, saichō, the founder of the Japanese school of Tendai, decided to reduce the number of rules down to about 60 based on the Bodhisattva Precepts. The Order of Interbeing, established in 1964 and associated with the Plum Village movement, has fourteen precepts observed by all monastics and they were written by Thích Nhất Hạnh. In practice, they often have a few personal possessions. Traditionally, Buddhist monks, nuns, and novices eschew ordinary clothes, originally the robes were sewn together from rags and stained with earth or other available dyes. A Buddhist monk is a bhikkhu in Pali, Sanskrit bhikṣu while a nun is a bhikkhuni, Sanskrit bhikṣuṇī. An emphasis on working for food is attributed to additional training guidelines laid down by a Chan Buddhist master, Baizhang Huaihai, notably the phrase, the idea that all Buddhists, especially Sangha members, practice vegetarianism is a Western misperception. In the Pali Canon the Buddha rejected a suggestion by Devadatta to impose vegetarianism on the Sangha, according to the Pali Texts, the Buddha ate meat as long as the animal was not killed specifically for him. Consequently, the Theravada tradition does not practice vegetarianism, although an individual may do so as his or her personal choice. On this question Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions vary depending on their interpretation of their scriptures, in some Mahayana sutras, meat eating is strongly discouraged and it is stated that the Buddha did not eat meat
6.
Anawrahta Road
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Anawrahta Minsaw was the founder of the Pagan Empire. Considered the father of the Burmese nation, Anawrahta turned a small principality in the dry zone of Upper Burma into the first Burmese Empire that formed the basis of modern-day Burma, historically verifiable Burmese history begins with his accession to the Pagan throne in 1044. Anawrahta unified the entire Irrawaddy valley for the first time in history and he successfully stopped the advance of Khmer Empire into Tenasserim coastline and into Upper Menam valley, making Pagan one of two main kingdoms in mainland Southeast Asia. A strict disciplinarian, Anawrahta implemented a series of key social, religious and his social and religious reforms later developed into the modern-day Burmese culture. He bequeathed a strong administrative system that all later Pagan kings followed until the fall in 1287. The success and longevity of Pagans dominance over the Irrawaddy valley laid the foundation for the ascent of Burmese language and culture, Anawrahtas legacy went far beyond the borders of modern Burma. He helped restart Theravada Buddhism in Ceylon, the Buddhist schools original home, the success of Pagan dynasty made Theravada Buddhisms later growth in Lan Na, Siam, Lan Xang, and Khmer Empire in the 13th and 14th centuries possible. Anawrahta is one of the most famous kings in Burmese history and his life stories are a staple of Burmese folklore and retold in popular literature and theater. Prior to Anawrahta, of all the early Pagan kings, only Nyaung-u Sawrahans reign can be verified independently by stone inscriptions, Anawrahta is the first historical king in that the events during his reign can be verified by stone inscriptions. However, Anawrahtas youth, like much of early Pagan history, is shrouded in legend. Anawrahta was born Min Saw to King Kunhsaw Kyaunghpyu and Queen Myauk Pyinthe on 11 May 1044, the Burmese chronicles do not agree on the dates regarding his life and reign. The table below lists the dates given by the four main chronicles, among the chronicles, scholarship usually accepts Zatas dates, which are considered to be the most accurate for the Pagan period. Scholarships dates for Anawrahtas birth, death and reign dates are closest to Zatas dates, in 1021, when Min Saw was about six years old, his father was deposed by his step-brothers Kyiso and Sokkate. His father had been a usurper of the Pagan throne, who overthrew King Nyaung-u Sawrahan two decades earlier, Kunhsaw then married three of Nyaung-us chief queens, two of whom were pregnant at the time, and subsequently gave birth to Kyiso and Sokkate. Kunhsaw had raised Sokkate and Kyiso as his own sons, after the putsch, Kyiso became king and Sokkate became heir-apparent. They forced their step-father to a monastery, where Kunhsaw would live as a monk for the remainder of his life. Min Saw grew up in the shadow of his two step-brothers, who viewed Min Saw as their youngest brother and allowed him to retain his status at the court. Min Saw and his mother attended Kunhsaw, and lived nearby the monastery, in 1038, Kyiso died, and was succeeded by Sokkate
7.
Yangon
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Yangon is a former capital of Myanmar and the capital of Yangon Region. Although Yangons infrastructure is undeveloped compared to that of major cities in southeast Asia. Yangon is a combination of the two words yan and koun, which enemies and run out of, respectively. It is also translated as End of Strife, Rangoon most likely comes from the British imitation of the pronunciation of Yangon in the Arakanese language, which is. Yangon was founded as Dagon in the early 11th century by the Mon, Dagon was a small fishing village centred about the Shwedagon Pagoda. In 1755, King Alaungpaya conquered Dagon, renamed it Yangon, the British captured Yangon during the First Anglo-Burmese War, but returned it to Burmese administration after the war. The city was destroyed by a fire in 1841, the British seized Yangon and all of Lower Burma in the Second Anglo-Burmese War of 1852, and subsequently transformed Yangon into the commercial and political hub of British Burma. Yangon is also the place where the British sent Bahadur Shah II, Yangon became the capital of all British Burma after the British had captured Upper Burma in the Third Anglo-Burmese War of 1885. By the 1890s Yangons increasing population and commerce gave birth to prosperous residential suburbs to the north of Royal Lake, the British also established hospitals including Rangoon General Hospital and colleges including Rangoon University. Colonial Yangon, with its spacious parks and lakes and mix of modern buildings, by the early 20th century, Yangon had public services and infrastructure on par with London. Before World War II, about 55% of Yangons population of 500,000 was Indian or South Asian, karens, the Chinese, the Anglo-Burmese and others made up the rest. After World War I, Yangon became the epicentre of Burmese independence movement, three nationwide strikes against the British Empire in 1920,1936 and 1938 all began in Yangon. Yangon was under Japanese occupation, and incurred heavy damage during World War II, the city was retaken by the Allies in May 1945. Yangon became the capital of Union of Burma on 4 January 1948 when the country regained independence from the British Empire, soon after Burmas independence in 1948, many colonial names of streets and parks were changed to more nationalistic Burmese names. In 1989, the current military junta changed the citys English name to Yangon, since independence, Yangon has expanded outwards. Successive governments have built satellite towns such as Thaketa, North Okkalapa and South Okkalapa in the 1950s to Hlaingthaya, Shwepyitha, today, Greater Yangon encompasses an area covering nearly 600 square kilometres. During Ne Wins isolationist rule, Yangons infrastructure deteriorated through poor maintenance, in the 1990s, the current military governments more open market policies attracted domestic and foreign investment, bringing a modicum of modernity to the citys infrastructure. Some inner city residents were relocated to new satellite towns
8.
Old Burmese
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Old Burmese was an early form of the Burmese language, as attested in the stone inscriptions of Pagan, and is the oldest phase of Burmese linguistic history. The transition to Middle Burmese occurred in the 16th century, the transition to Middle Burmese included phonological changes as well as accompanying changes in the underlying orthography. Word order, grammatical structure and vocabulary have remained markedly comparable, well into Modern Burmese, unlike most Tibeto-Burman languages, Burmese has a phonological system with two-way aspiration, preaspiration and postaspiration. In Burmese, this serves to differentiate causative and non-causative verbs of Sino-Tibetan etymology. In Old Burmese, postaspiration can be reconstructed to the language, whereas preaspiration is comparatively newer. The merging of proto-prefixes to preaspirated consonants was nearly complete by the 12th century, Old Burmese maintains a number of distinctions which are no longer present in the orthography of standard Burmese. Whereas Modern Standard Burmese uses 3 written medials, Old Burmese had a fourth written medial /-l-/, Old Burmese orthography treated the preaspirated consonant as a separate segment, since a special diacritic had not yet been innovated. As such, the letter ha was stacked above the consonant being modified, examples of such differences include the consonant yh- and the lateral clusters kl- and khl-. The earliest Old Burmese documents, in particular the Myazedi and Lokatheikpan inscriptions frequently have -o- where later Burmese has -wa, Old Burmese also had a final -at and -an distinct from -ac and -any as shown by Nishi. Aside from Pali, the Mon language had significant influence on Old Burmese orthography and vocabulary, as Old Burmese borrowed many lexical items, although grammatical influence was minimal. Many Mon loan words are present in Old Burmese inscriptions, including words that were absent in the Burmese vocabulary, Pali also had an influence in the construction of written Old Burmese verbal modifiers. This was a consequence of Pali grammar, which dictates that participles can be used in noun functions, Pali grammar also influenced negation in written Old Burmese, as many Old Burmese inscriptions adopt the Pali method of negation. In Burmese, negation is accomplished by prefixing a negative particle မ to the verb being negated, in Pali, အ is used instead. Such grammatical influences from Pali on written Old Burmese had disappeared by the 15th century, the earliest evidence of Burmese script is dated to 1035, while an 18th-century recast stone inscription points to 984. Perhaps the most well known inscription is the Old Burmese face of the Myazedi inscription, the most complete set of Old Burmese inscriptions, called She-haung Myanma Kyauksa Mya was published by Yangon Universitys Department of Archaeology in five volumes from 1972 to 1987. The Myth of the Three Shan Brothers and the Ava Period in Burmese History, the Mists of Rāmañña, The Legend that was Lower Burma. “Remarks on the system of old Burmese. ”Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area 24.2. Nishi Yoshio 西 義郎 ビルマ文語の-acについて Birumabungo-no-ac-ni tsuite 東洋学報 Tōyō gakuhō, the Journal of the Research Department of the Toyo Bunko 56.1, 01-43 Nishi Yoshio
9.
School
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A school is an institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools, the names for these schools vary by country but generally include primary school for young children and secondary school for teenagers who have completed primary education. An institution where higher education is taught, is called a university college or university. In addition to these schools, students in a given country may also attend schools before. Kindergarten or pre-school provide some schooling to young children. University, vocational school, college or seminary may be available after secondary school, a school may also be dedicated to one particular field, such as a school of economics or a school of dance. Alternative schools may provide nontraditional curriculum and methods, there are also non-government schools, called private schools. Private schools may be required when the government does not supply adequate, Schools for adults include institutions of corporate training, military education and training and business schools. In homeschooling and online schools, teaching and learning take place outside of a school building. Schools are commonly organized in several different organizational models, including departmental, small learning communities, academies, integrated, and schools-within-a-school. The word school derives from Greek σχολή, originally meaning leisure and also that in which leisure is employed, the concept of grouping students together in a centralized location for learning has existed since Classical antiquity. Formal schools have existed at least since ancient Greece, ancient Rome ancient India, the Byzantine Empire had an established schooling system beginning at the primary level. According to Traditions and Encounters, the founding of the education system began in 425 AD. The sometimes efficient and often large government of the Empire meant that citizens were a must. Although Byzantium lost much of the grandeur of Roman culture and extravagance in the process of surviving, the Byzantine education system continued until the empires collapse in 1453 AD. Beginning in the 5th century CE monastic schools were established throughout Western Europe. Islam was another culture developed a school system in the modern sense of the word
10.
Christian
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A Christian is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christian derives from the Koine Greek word Christós, a translation of the Biblical Hebrew term mashiach, while there are diverse interpretations of Christianity which sometimes conflict, they are united in believing that Jesus has a unique significance. The term Christian is also used as an adjective to describe anything associated with Christianity, or in a sense all that is noble, and good. According to a 2011 Pew Research Center survey, there were 2.2 billion Christians around the world in 2010, by 2050, the Christian population is expected to exceed 3 billion. According to a 2012 Pew Research Center survey Christianity will remain the worlds largest religion in 2050, about half of all Christians worldwide are Catholic, while more than a third are Protestant. Orthodox communions comprise 12% of the worlds Christians, other Christian groups make up the remainder. Christians make up the majority of the population in 158 countries and territories,280 million Christian live as a minority. In the Greek Septuagint, christos was used to translate the Hebrew מָשִׁיחַ, in other European languages, equivalent words to Christian are likewise derived from the Greek, such as Chrétien in French and Cristiano in Spanish. The second mention of the term follows in Acts 26,28, where Herod Agrippa II replied to Paul the Apostle, Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian. The third and final New Testament reference to the term is in 1 Peter 4,16, which believers, Yet if as a Christian, let him not be ashamed. The city of Antioch, where someone gave them the name Christians, had a reputation for coming up with such nicknames, in the Annals he relates that by vulgar appellation commonly called Christians and identifies Christians as Neros scapegoats for the Great Fire of Rome. Another term for Christians which appears in the New Testament is Nazarenes which is used by the Jewish lawyer Tertullus in Acts 24, the Hebrew equivalent of Nazarenes, Notzrim, occurs in the Babylonian Talmud, and is still the modern Israeli Hebrew term for Christian. A wide range of beliefs and practices is found across the world among those who call themselves Christian, denominations and sects disagree on a common definition of Christianity. Most Baptists and fundamentalists, for example, would not acknowledge Mormonism or Christian Science as Christian, in fact, the nearly 77 percent of Americans who self-identify as Christian are a diverse pluribus of Christianities that are far from any collective unity. The identification of Jesus as the Messiah is not accepted by Judaism, the term for a Christian in Hebrew is נוּצְרי, a Talmudic term originally derived from the fact that Jesus came from the Galilean village of Nazareth, today in northern Israel. Adherents of Messianic Judaism are referred to in modern Hebrew as יְהוּדִים מָשִׁיחַיים, the term Nasara rose to prominence in July 2014, after the Fall of Mosul to the terrorist organization Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. The nun or ن— the first letter of Nasara—was spray-painted on the property of Christians ejected from the city, where there is a distinction, Nasrani refers to people from a Christian culture and Masihi is used by Christians themselves for those with a religious faith in Jesus. In some countries Nasrani tends to be used generically for non-Muslim Western foreigners, another Arabic word sometimes used for Christians, particularly in a political context, is Ṣalībī from ṣalīb which refers to Crusaders and has negative connotations
11.
Church (building)
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A church building, often simply called a church, is a building used for Christian religious activities, particularly worship services. The term in its sense is most often used by Christians to refer to their religious buildings. In traditional Christian architecture, the church is arranged in the shape of a Christian cross. When viewed from plan view the longest part of a cross is represented by the aisle, towers or domes are often added with the intention of directing the eye of the viewer towards the heavens and inspiring church visitors. The earliest identified Christian church was a church founded between 233 and 256. During the 11th through 14th centuries, a wave of building of cathedrals, a cathedral is a church, usually Roman Catholic, Anglican, Oriental Orthodox or Eastern Orthodox, housing the seat of a bishop. In standard Greek usage, the word ecclesia was retained to signify both a specific edifice of Christian worship, and the overall community of the faithful. This usage was retained in Latin and the languages derived from Latin, as well as in the Celtic languages. In the Germanic and some Slavic languages, the word kyriak-ós/-ē/-ón was adopted instead, in Old English the sequence of derivation started as cirice, then churche, and eventually church in its current pronunciation. German Kirche, Scottish kirk, Russian церковь, etc. are all similarly derived, according to the New Testament, the earliest Christians did not build church buildings. Instead, they gathered in homes or in Jewish worship places like the Second Temple or synagogues, the earliest archeologically identified Christian church is a house church, the Dura-Europos church, founded between 233 and 256. During the 11th through 14th centuries, a wave of building of cathedrals, in addition to being a place of worship, the cathedral or parish church was used by the community in other ways. It could serve as a place for guilds or a hall for banquets. Mystery plays were performed in cathedrals, and cathedrals might also be used for fairs. The church could be used as a place to thresh and store grain, a common architecture for churches is the shape of a cross. These churches also often have a dome or other large vaulted space in the interior to represent or draw attention to the heavens. Other common shapes for churches include a circle, to represent eternity, or an octagon or similar star shape, another common feature is the spire, a tall tower on the west end of the church or over the crossing. The Latin word basilica was used to describe a Roman public building
12.
Hindu temple
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A temple is a structure reserved for religious or spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. It is typically used for such buildings belonging to all faiths where a specific term such as church. These include Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism among religions with many modern followers, the form and function of temples is thus very variable, though they are often considered by believers to be in some sense the house of one or more deities. Typically offerings of some sort are made to the deity, and other rituals enacted, the degree to which the whole population of believers can access the building varies significantly, often parts or even the whole main building can only be accessed by the clergy. Temples typically have a building and a larger precinct, which may contain many other buildings. The word comes from Ancient Rome, where a templum constituted a sacred precinct as defined by a priest and it has the same root as the word template, a plan in preparation of the building that was marked out on the ground by the augur. Templa also became associated with the places of a god or gods. Hindu temples are large and magnificent with a rich history, there is evidence of use of sacred ground as far back as the Bronze Age and later the Indus Valley Civilization. Hindu temples have been built in countries around the world, including Cambodia, Nepal, Mauritius, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Great Britain. They include the structures called stupa, wat and pagoda in different regions, Temples in Buddhism represent the pure land or pure environment of a Buddha. Traditional Buddhist temples are designed to inspire inner and outer peace, a Jain temple is the place of worship for Jains, the followers of Jainism. Some famous Jain temples are Shikharji, Palitana Jain Temples, Ranakpur Jain Temple, Shravan Belgola, Dilwara Temples, Jain temples are built with various architectural designs. Jain temples in North India are completely different from the Jain temples in South India, additionally, a Manastambha is a pillar that is often constructed in front of Jain temples. The temple of Mesopotamia derived from the cult of gods and deities in the Mesopotamian religion and it spanned several civilizations, from Sumerian, Akkadian, Assyrian, and Babylonian. Ancient Egyptian temples were meant as places for the deities to reside on earth, indeed, the term the Egyptians most commonly used to describe the temple building, ḥwt-nṯr, means mansion of a god. A gods presence in the temple linked the human and divine realms and these rituals, it was believed, sustained the god and allowed it to continue to play its proper role in nature. They were therefore a key part of the maintenance of maat, maintaining maat was the entire purpose of Egyptian religion, and thus it was the purpose of a temple as well. Ancient Egyptian temples were also of significance to Egyptian society
13.
Chinese temple
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A Chinese temple is a place of worship of the Chinese folk religion/Shenism, where people revere ethnic Chinese gods and ancestors. Shenist temples are small and decorated with traditional figures on their roofs. Chinese temples can be found throughout Mainland China, Taiwan and also where Chinese expatriate communities settled over centuries, an old name in English for Chinese traditional temples is joss house. Joss is a version of the Portuguese word for god. Joss house was in use in English in western North America during frontier times. The name joss house describes the environment of worship, Joss sticks, a kind of incense, are burned inside and outside of the house. Chinese folk religion Temple of Confucius Joss paper China Ancestral Temples Network
14.
Hindi
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Hindi, or Modern Standard Hindi is a standardised and Sanskritised register of the Hindustani language. Along with the English language, Hindi written in the Devanagari script, is the language of the Government of India. It is also one of the 22 scheduled languages of the Republic of India, Hindi is the lingua franca of the so-called Hindi belt of India. Outside India, it is a language which is known as Fiji Hindi in Fiji, and is a recognised regional language in Mauritius, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana. Hindi is the fourth most-spoken first language in the world, after Mandarin, apart from specialized vocabulary, Hindi is mutually intelligible with Standard Urdu, another recognized register of Hindustani. Part XVII of the Indian Constitution deals with Official Language, under Article 343, official language of the Union has been prescribed, which includes Hindi in Devanagari script and English. Gujarat High Court, in 2010, has observed that there was nothing on record to suggest that any provision has been made or order issued declaring Hindi as a language of India. Article 343 of the Indian constitution states The official language of the Union shall be Hindi in Devanagari script, the form of numerals to be used for the official purposes of the Union shall be the international form of Indian numerals. It was envisioned that Hindi would become the working language of the Union Government by 1965. Each may also designate a co-official language, in Uttar Pradesh, for instance, depending on the formation in power. Similarly, Hindi is accorded the status of language in the following Union Territories, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu. National-language status for Hindi is a long-debated theme, an Indian court clarified that Hindi is not the national language of India because the constitution does not mention it as such. Outside Asia, Hindi is a language in Fiji as per the 1997 Constitution of Fiji. It is spoken by 380,000 people in Fiji, Hindi is also spoken by a large population of Madheshis of Nepal. Hindi is quite easy to understand for some Pakistanis, who speak Urdu, apart from this, Hindi is spoken by the large Indian diaspora which hails from, or has its origin from the Hindi Belt of India. Like other Indo-Aryan languages, Hindi is considered to be a descendant of an early form of Sanskrit, through Sauraseni Prakrit. It has been influenced by Dravidian languages, Turkic languages, Persian, Arabic, Portuguese, Hindi emerged as Apabhramsha, a degenerated form of Prakrit, in the 7th century A. D. By the 10th century A. D. it became stable, Braj Bhasha, Bhojpuri, Awadhi, Khari Boli etc. are the dialects of Hindi
15.
Bago, Myanmar
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Bago, formerly known as Hanthawaddy, is a city and the capital of the Bago Region in Myanmar. It is located 50 miles north-east of Yangon, the Gulf of Martaban was colonized by Mon people from the Thaton Kingdom, who established Bago. In 825, the twin brothers Samala and Vimala founded Pegu, the earliest mention of Bago in history is by the Arab geographer ibn Khordadbeh around 850 AD. At the time, the Mon capital had shifted to Thaton, the area came under rule of the Burmese from Bagan in 1056. After the collapse of Bagan to the Mongols in 1287, the Mon regained their independence, in Lower Burma, a Mon dynasty established itself first at Mottama and then at Bago. During the reign of King Razadarit, Bago and Ava Kingdom were engaged in the Forty Years War, the peaceful reign of Queen Shin Sawbu came to an end when she chose the Buddhist monk Dhammazedi to succeed her. Under Dhammazedi, Bago became a centre of commerce and Theravada Buddhism, from 1353–1539, Binnya U, descendant of the Thai chief Wareru, established Hanthawaddy as the capital of the Mon Hanthawaddy Kingdom, which covered all of what is now Lower Burma. The area came under Burman control again in 1539, when it was annexed by King Tabinshwehti of the Taungoo Dynasty, the kings of Taungoo made Bago their royal capital from 1539–1599 and again in 1613–1635, and used it as a base for repeated invasions of the Ayutthaya Kingdom. In 1519, António Correia, then a merchant from the Portuguese casados settlement at Cochin landed in Bago, then known to the Portuguese as Pegu, a year later, Portuguese India Governor Diogo Lopes de Sequeira sent an ambassador to Pegu. As a major seaport, the city was visited by Europeans, among these. The Europeans often commented on its magnificence, the capital was looted by the viceroy of Toungoo, Minye Thihathu II of Toungoo, and then burned by the viceroy of Arakin during the Burmese–Siamese War. Anaukpetlun wanted to rebuild Hongsawadi, which had been deserted since Nanda Bayin had abandoned it and he was only able to build a temporary palace, however. The Burmese capital relocated to Ava in 1634, in 1740, the Mon revolted and founded the Restored Hanthawaddy Kingdom. However, a Bamar king, Alaungpaya, captured the city in May 1757, Bago was rebuilt by King Bodawpaya, but by then the river had shifted course, cutting the city off from the sea. It never regained its previous importance, after the Second Anglo-Burmese War, the British annexed Bago in 1852. In 1862, the province of British Burma was formed, the substantial differences between the colloquial and literary pronunciations, as with Burmese words, was a reason of the British corruption Pegu. In 1911, Hanthawaddy was described as a district in the Bago division of Lower Burma and it lay in the home district of Yangon, from which the town was detached to make a separate district in 1880. It had an area of 3,023 square miles, with a population of 48,411 in 1901, Hanthawaddy and Hinthada were the two most densely populated districts in the province
16.
Sagaing
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Sagaing is the capital of Sagaing Region in Myanmar. Located on the Ayeyarwady River,20 km to the south-west of Mandalay on the bank of the river, Sagaing with numerous Buddhist monasteries is an important religious. The pagodas and monasteries crowd the numerous hills along the ridge running parallel to the river, the central pagoda, Soon U Ponya Shin Pagoda, is connected by a set of covered staircases that run up the 240 m hill. Sagaing was the capital of Sagaing Kingdom, one of the kingdoms that rose up after the fall of Pagan dynasty. During the Ava period, the city was the fief of the crown prince or senior princes. The city briefly became the capital between 1760 and 1763 in the reign of King Naungdawgyi. On August 8,1988, Sagaing was the site of demonstrations which were concluded by a massacre in which around 300 civilians were killed. Today, with about 70,000 inhabitants, the city is part of Mandalay built-up area with more than 1,022,000 inhabitants estimated in 2011, the city is a frequent tourist destination of day trippers. The city is home to the Sagaing Institute of Education and the Sagaing Education College, list of kings of Sagaing Kingdom Sithu Kyawhtin, King of Ava Zhu Youlang, Prince of Gui, last Ming Dynasty claimant to China, lived in exile at Sagaing in 1661. Maurice Collis, author of Trials in Burma, was commissioner of the Sagaing district in 1928
17.
Taungoo Dynasty
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The Toungoo Dynasty was the ruling dynasty of Burma from the mid-16th century to 1752. Its early kings Tabinshwehti and Bayinnaung succeeded in reunifying the territories of the Pagan Kingdom for the first time since 1287, at its peak, the First Toungoo Empire also included Manipur, Chinese Shan States, Siam, and Lan Xang. But the largest empire in the history of Southeast Asia collapsed in the 18 years following Bayinnaungs death in 1581, the Restored Toungoo kings, now based in Ava, created a legal and political system whose basic features would continue under the Konbaung Dynasty well into the 19th century. The crown completely replaced the hereditary chieftainships with appointed governorships in the entire Irrawaddy valley and its trade and secular administrative reforms built a prosperous economy for more than 80 years. The kingdom entered a decline due to the palace rule of its kings. Starting from the 1720s, the kingdom was beset with pesky raids by the Meitei people of the Chindwin River, raids by the Meitei intensified in the 1730s, reaching increasingly deeper parts of central Burma. In 1740, the Mon people in Lower Burma began a rebellion, the Hanthawaddy armies captured Inwa in 1752 and ended the 266-year-old Toungoo Dynasty. King Mingyi Nyo founded the First Taungoo Dynasty at Taungoo far up the Sittaung River south of Inwa towards the end of the Ava Kingdom in 1510, after the conquest of Inwa by the Shan people in 1527, many Bamars migrated to Taungoo, which became a new centre. Mingyi Nyos son, King Tabinshwehti, unified most of Burma, consolidating his power and pushing southward, over-running the Irrawaddy Delta, in 1544, Tabinshwehti was crowned as king of all Burma at the ancient capital of Bagan. By this time, the situation in Southeast Asia had changed dramatically. With the coming of European traders, Burma was once again an important trading centre and he then began assembling an army for an attack on coastal Rakhine State to the west. Tabinshwehtis forces were defeated at Arakan but he was able to control of Lower Burma up to Pyay. He led his army eastward to the Ayutthaya Kingdom, where he was again defeated in the Burmese–Siamese War. A period of unrest and rebellions among other conquered peoples followed, tabinshwehtis brother-in-law, Bayinnaung, succeeded to the throne in 1550 and reigned 30 years, launching a campaign of conquest invading several states, including Manipur and Ayutthaya. An energetic leader and effective commander, he made Toungoo the most powerful state in Southeast Asia. Bayinnaung was poised to deliver a final, decisive assault on the kingdom of Arakan when he died in 1581 and his son Nanda Bayin and his successors were forced to quell rebellions in other parts of the kingdom, and the victory over Arakan was never achieved. Bayinnaungs grandson, Anaukpetlun, once again reunited Burma in 1613, anaukpetluns successor Thalun rebuilt the war torn country. Based on Thaluns revenue inquest in 1635, the Irrawaddy valleys population was estimated to be around 2 million, the dynasty survived for another century and a half until the death of Mahadammayaza in 1752
18.
Kinwun Mingyi U Kaung
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Kinwun Mingyi U Kaung C. S. I. was a chief minister during the reigns of King Mindon and Thibaw, as well as a colonial civil servant. He attempted to westernise the Burmese kingdoms existing bureaucracy into a democratic system. Because of such attempts to do so, he was accused by many to have allowed Britain to win the Third Anglo-Burmese War, Kinwon Mingyi was born Maung Chin on 3 February 1822 in Madaingbin village. His father U Hmo was a soldier in the Natshinywe Infantry Regiment. As was customary tradition, he was destined to follow the footsteps of his father, however, he escaped conscription by ordaining as a Buddhist monk and was given the Dharma name Āloka. He moved to Amarapura and lived at Bagaya Monastery, the monastery of the Bagaya Sayadaw and he was also schooled at a college led by U Yanwe, who eventually became the chief minister of King Mindon with the title Pakan Mingyi. He disrobed and returned to the laity at the age of 25, after the Second Anglo-Burmese War in 1853, he joined the court service of King Mindon, who renamed him U Kaung and appointed him the Clerk of the Royal Treasury. In 1871, he was appointed minister of third rank at the Hluttaw, the governing body and was responsible for the countrys police and customs stations. In 1871, he led the first Burmese diplomatic group to Europe, in preparation for the trip, he rose to the rank of Wungyi, the chief minister. There, he was received by Queen Victoria and invested Prince of Wales and he and his embassy, consisting of Shwe O and Shwe Bin and Maung Mye. By 1872, he had risen to the rank of governor of Minhla District. Before King Mindons death in 1878, U Kaung was made Commander-in-Chief, after King Mindons death, Kinwun Mingyi lost much of his influence. He ordered the Burmese troops during the Third Anglo-Burmese War to not attack invading British, under British colonial rule, Kinwon Mingyi served as a civil servant in the British administration. In 1888, he was awarded the Companions of the Order of the Star of India and in 1897, during his civil service, he penned many famous books and poems in Burmese literature. Among them were the Attathamkhepa Wunnana Dhammathat and the Digest of Buddhist Law and his personal library was acquired by the Bernard Free Library in Rangoon. His first marriage was to the Princess of Singyan, one of the queens of Pagan Min. His second was to Shwe May, the daughter of the myothugyi of Ahlone and he did not have any biological children, but he adopted two sons of the his brother-in-law. He died of paralysis at his residence in Fort Dufferin in Mandalay on 30 June 1908, Burmese Encyclopedia Vol 2, p-406 printed in 1955
19.
Pagan Kingdom
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The Kingdom of Pagan was the first kingdom to unify the regions that would later constitute modern-day Burma. The kingdom grew out of a small 9th-century settlement at Pagan by the Mranma, in the 12th and 13th centuries, Pagan, alongside the Khmer Empire, was one of two main empires in mainland Southeast Asia. The Burmese language and culture became dominant in the upper Irrawaddy valley, eclipsing the Pyu, Mon. Theravada Buddhism slowly began to spread to the village level although Tantric, Mahayana, Brahmanic, Pagans rulers built over 10,000 Buddhist temples in the Pagan capital zone of which over 2000 remain. The wealthy donated tax-free land to religious authorities and this ushered in a vicious circle of internal disorders and external challenges by the Arakanese, Mons, Mongols and Shans. Repeated Mongol invasions toppled the four-century-old kingdom in 1287, the collapse was followed by 250 years of political fragmentation that lasted well into the 16th century. The origins of the Pagan kingdom have been reconstructed using archaeological evidence as well as the Burmese chronicle tradition, considerable differences exist between the views of modern scholarship and various chronicle narratives. Burmese chronicles do not agree on the origins of the Pagan kingdom, chronicles down to the 18th century trace its origins to 167 CE, when Pyusawhti, a descendant of a solar spirit and a dragon princess, founded the dynasty at Pagan. But the 19th-century Glass Palace Chronicle connects the dynastys origins to the clan of the Buddha, the Glass Palace Chronicle traces the origins of the Pagan kingdom to India during the 9th century BCE, more than three centuries before the Buddha was born. Prince Abhiraja of Kosala of the Sakya clan — the clan of the Buddha — left his homeland with followers in 850 BCE after military defeat by the kingdom of Panchala. They settled at Tagaung in present-day northern Burma and founded a kingdom, the Chronicle does not claim that he had arrived in an empty land, only that he was the first king. The elder son Kanyaza Gyi ventured south, and in 825 BCE founded his own kingdom in what is today Arakan, the younger son Kanyaza Nge succeeded his father, and was followed by a dynasty of 31 kings, and then another dynasty of 17 kings. Some three and a half later, in 483 BCE, scions of Tagaung founded yet another kingdom much farther down the Irrawaddy at Sri Ksetra. Sri Ksetra lasted nearly six centuries, and was succeeded in turn by the kingdom of Pagan, the Glass Palace Chronicle goes on to relate that around 107 CE, Thamoddarit, nephew of the last king of Sri Ksetra, founded the city of Pagan. The site reportedly was visited by the Buddha himself during his lifetime, Thamoddarit was followed by a caretaker, and then Pyusawhti in 167 CE. The chronicle narratives then merge, and agree that a dynasty of kings followed Pyusawhti, king Pyinbya fortified the city in 849 CE. They doubted the antiquity of the tradition, and dismissed the possibility that any sort of civilisation in Burma could be much older than 500 CE. The Abhiraja myth notwithstanding, more recent research indicate that many of the places mentioned in the royal records have indeed been inhabited continuously for at least 3500 years
20.
Jataka tales
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The Jātaka tales are a voluminous body of literature native to India concerning the previous births of Gautama Buddha in both human and animal form. The future Buddha may appear as a king, an outcast, a god, in Theravada Buddhism, the Jātakas are a textual division of the Pāli Canon, included in the Khuddaka Nikaya of the Sutta Pitaka. The term Jātaka may also refer to a commentary on this book. The Jātakas were originally amongst the earliest Buddhist literature, with metrical analysis methods dating their average contents to around the 4th century BCE. The Mahāsāṃghika Caitika sects from the region took the Jātakas as canonical literature and are known to have rejected some of the Theravāda Jātakas which dated past the time of King Ashoka. The Caitikas claimed that their own Jātakas represented the original collection before the Buddhist tradition split into various lineages, according to A. K. Warder, the Jātakas are the precursors to the various legendary biographies of the Buddha, which were composed at later dates. Although many Jātakas were written from a period, which describe previous lives of the Buddha. The Jātaka-Mālā of Arya Śura in Sanskrit gives 34 Jātaka stories, at the Ajanta Caves, Jātaka scenes are inscribed with quotes from Arya Shura, with script datable to sixth century. It had already translated into Chinese in 434 CE. Borobudur contains depictions of all 34 Jatakas from Jataka Mala, the Theravāda Jātakas comprise 547 poems, arranged roughly by increasing number of verses. According to Professor von Hinüber, only the last 50 were intended to be intelligible by themselves, the commentary gives stories in prose that it claims provide the context for the verses, and it is these stories that are of interest to folklorists. Many of the stories and motifs found in the Jātaka such as the Rabbit in the Moon of the Śaśajātaka, are found in other languages. Many of the stories and motifs being translations from the Pali, at the Mahathupa in Sri Lanka all 550 Jataka tales were represented inside of the reliquary chamber. Reliquaries often depict the Jataka tales, many stupas in northern India are said to mark locations from the Jātaka tales, the Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang reported several of these. A stupa in Puskaravati marks where Syama fulfilled his duty to his blind parents. Nearby the ascetic Ekasrnga was seduced by a beautiful woman, in Mangalura Ksantivadin submitted to mutilation by a king. At Hadda Mountain a young Brahmin sacrificed himself to learn a half verse of the dharma, at Sarvadattaan an incarnation sold himself for ransom to make offerings to a Brahmin. Faxian describes the four great stupas as being adorned with precious substances, at one site king Sibi sacrifices his flesh to ransom a dove from a hawk
21.
British India
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Provinces of India, earlier Presidencies of British India and still earlier, Presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in the subcontinent. Collectively, they were called British India, in one form or other they existed between 1612 and 1947, conventionally divided into three historical periods. During 1612–1757, the East India Company set up factories in several locations, mostly in coastal India and its rivals were the merchant trading companies of Holland and France. By the mid-18th century, three Presidency towns, Madras, Bombay, and Calcutta had grown in size, during the period of Company rule in India, 1757–1858, the Company gradually acquired sovereignty over large parts of India, now called Presidencies. However, it increasingly came under British government oversight, in effect sharing sovereignty with the Crown. At the same time it gradually lost its mercantile privileges, following the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the Companys remaining powers were transferred to the Crown. In the new British Raj, sovereignty extended to a few new regions, increasingly, however, unwieldy presidencies were broken up into Provinces. In 1608, the English East India Company established a settlement at Surat, and it was followed in 1611 by a permanent factory at Machilipatnam on the Coromandel Coast, and in 1612 the company joined other already established European trading companies in Bengal. Company rule in Bengal, however, ended with the Government of India Act 1858 following the events of the Bengal Rebellion of 1857 and these rulers were allowed a measure of internal autonomy in exchange for British suzerainty. British India constituted a significant portion of India both in area and population, in 1910, for example, it covered approximately 54% of the area, in addition, there were Portuguese and French exclaves in India. Independence from British rule was achieved in 1947 with the formation of two nations, the Dominions of India and Pakistan, the latter also including East Bengal, present-day Bangladesh. The term British India also applied to Burma for a time period, starting in 1824, a small part of Burma. This arrangement lasted until 1937, when Burma commenced being administered as a separate British colony, British India did not apply to other countries in the region, such as Sri Lanka, which was a British Crown colony, or the Maldive Islands, which were a British protectorate. It also included the Colony of Aden in the Arabian Peninsula, the original seat of government was at Allahabad, then at Agra from 1834 to 1868. Bombay Presidency, East India Companys headquarters moved from Surat to Bombay in 1687, the East India Company, which was incorporated on 31 December 1600, established trade relations with Indian rulers in Masulipatam on the east coast in 1611 and Surat on the west coast in 1612. The company rented a trading outpost in Madras in 1639, meanwhile, in eastern India, after obtaining permission from the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan to trade with Bengal, the Company established its first factory at Hoogly in 1640. Almost a half-century later, after Emperor Aurengzeb forced the Company out of Hooghly, by the mid-18th century the three principal trading settlements, now called the Madras Presidency, the Bombay Presidency, and the Bengal Presidency were each administered by a Governor. After Robert Clives victory in the Battle of Plassey in 1757, in 1772, the Company also obtained the Nizāmat of Bengal and thereby full sovereignty of the expanded Bengal Presidency
22.
Konbaung Dynasty
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The Konbaung Dynasty, formerly known as the Alompra Dynasty, was the last dynasty that ruled Burma/Myanmar from 1752 to 1885. It created the second-largest empire in Burmese history and continued the reforms begun by the Toungoo dynasty. An expansionist dynasty, the Konbaung kings waged campaigns against Manipur, Arakan, Assam, the Mon kingdom of Pegu, subject to later wars and treaties with the British, the modern state of Burma can trace its current borders to these events. Throughout the Konbaung Dynasty, the capital was relocated several times for religious, political, the dynasty was founded by a village chief, who later became known as Alaungpaya, in 1752 to challenge the Restored Hanthawaddy Kingdom which had just toppled the Toungoo dynasty. By 1759, Alaungpayas forces had reunited all of Burma, and driven out the French, Alaungpayas second son, Hsinbyushin, came to the throne after a short reign by his elder brother, Naungdawgyi. He continued his fathers expansionist policy and finally took Ayutthaya in 1767, realising the need to modernise, the Konbaung rulers tried to enact various reforms with limited success. Mindon also tried to reduce the tax burden by lowering the income tax and created a property tax. In addition, the duties on foreign exports stifled the burgeoning trade, Konbaung kings extended administrative reforms begun in the Restored Toungoo Dynasty period, and achieved unprecedented levels of internal control and external expansion. They tightened control in the lowlands and reduced the privileges of Shan chiefs. They also instituted reforms that increased government income and rendered it more predictable. Money economy continued to gain ground, in 1857, the crown inaugurated a full-fledged system of cash taxes and salaries, assisted by the countrys first standardised silver coinage. Nonetheless, the extent and pace of reforms were uneven and ultimately proved insufficient to stem the advance of British colonialism, in 1760, Burma began a series of wars with Siam that would last well into the middle of the 19th century. By 1770, Alaungpayas heirs had temporarily defeated Siam, subdued much of Laos, with the Burmese preoccupied for another two decades by another impending invasion by the Chinese, the Siamese recovered their territories by 1770, and went on to capture Lan Na by 1776. Burma and Siam went to war until 1855 but after decades of war, in the defence of its realm, the dynasty fought four wars successfully against the Qing Dynasty of China which saw the threat of the expansion of Burmese power in the East. The Qing Dynasty then opened up its markets and restored trading with Burma in 1788 after reconciliation, thenceforth peaceful and friendly relations prevailed between China and Burma for a long time. Faced with a powerful China and a resurgent Siam in the east, Bodawpaya acquired western kingdoms of Arakan, Manipur and Assam, europeans began to set up trading posts in the Irrawaddy delta region during this period. Konbaung tried to maintain its independence by balancing between the French and the British, in the end it failed, the British severed diplomatic relations in 1811, and the dynasty fought and lost three wars against the British Empire, culminating in total annexation of Burma by the British. The British decisively defeated the Burmese in the First Anglo-Burmese War, Burma was forced to cede Arakan, Manipur, Assam and Tenasserim, and pay a large indemnity of one million pounds
23.
Bodawpaya
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Bodawpaya was the sixth king of the Konbaung Dynasty of Burma. Born Maung Shwe Waing and later Badon Min, he was the son of Alaungpaya, founder of the dynasty. He was proclaimed king after deposing his nephew Phaungkaza Maung Maung, son of his oldest brother Naungdawgyi, Bodawpaya moved the royal capital back to Amarapura in 1782. He fathered 62 sons and 58 daughters by about 200 consorts, also known as Bodaw U Waing, he invaded Arakan in 1784 sending his royal armies led by his son, the Heir Apparent Thado Minsaw, across the Western Yoma range of mountains. The capital of Arakan Mrauk U was captured on the last of 1784, the Mahamuni Buddha image, among other treasures such as the Khmer bronze statues, were brought back to mainland Burma, these can still be seen in Mandalay. Also taken were 20,000 captives as slaves to pagodas and temples, Once Arakan was annexed as a province of Burma, her borders became contiguous with British India. Bodawpaya invaded Siam in 1785, and was defeated and he invaded Siam again in 1809, but was fended off by Maha Senanurak and the heroines, Chan and Mook. A strong force of 16,000 under the command of Gen. Maha Minhla Minkhaung was sent with Badan Chandra Borphukan, the Burmese force entered Assam in January,1817 and defeated the Assamese force in the battle of Ghiladhari. Meanwhile, Purnananda Burhagohain died, and Ruchinath Burhagohain, the son of Purnananda Burahgohain fled to Guwahati, the reigning Ahom king Chandrakanta Singha came in terms with Badan Chandra Borphukan and his Burmese allies. The King appointed Badan Chandra Borphukan as Mantri Phukan and an Ahom princess Hemo Aideo was given for marriage to Burmese King Bodawpaya along with many gifts, the Burmese force retired from Assam soon after. A year later, Badan Chandra Borphukan was assassinated and the Ahom king Chandrakanta Singha was deposed by rival political faction led by Ruchinath Burhagohain, Chandrakanta Singha and the friends of Badan Chandra Borphukan appeal for help to Bodawpaya. In February 1819, the Burmese forces invaded Assam for second time, Bodawpaya proclaimed himself the next messianic Buddha or Maitreya, but his claim was firmly rejected by the Sangha. Burma became the custodian of Buddhism in the region, and the ordination was re-introduced to Sri Lanka where it established the Amarapura Nikaya. In 1790 Bodawpaya began the construction of a stupa called Mantalagyi at Mingun,11 km up the River Irrawaddy from Mandalay on the west bank. It was however never finished after a prophecy went round saying Payagyi lè apyi that, moksoe thonnya kap – Once the great pagoda has been wrought, the Moksoe dynasty will come to nought. It was meant to have stood 150 metres, tall enough to be seen from Shwebo in the west, an earthquake in 1838 left huge fissures in the structure, and also caused the heads of the two gigantic chinthes to fall into the river. There was also a gigantic 90 ton bell dedicated to the called the Mingun Bell. It was the largest ringing bell in the world, as the bell in Moscow Kremlin called the Tsar bell is broken
24.
Sumptuary law
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Societies have used sumptuary laws for a variety of purposes. They were used as an attempt to regulate the balance of trade by limiting the market for imported goods. They made it easy to identify social rank and privilege, the laws frequently prevented commoners from imitating the appearance of aristocrats and also could be used to stigmatize disfavored groups. In the Late Middle Ages, sumptuary laws in cities were instituted as a way for the nobility to cap or limit the conspicuous consumption of the prosperous bourgeoisie. If bourgeois subjects appeared to be as wealthy or wealthier than the nobility, it could undermine the nobilitys presentation of themselves as powerful. This could call into question their ability to control and defend their fief, such laws continued to be used for these purposes well into the 17th century. It also banned the drinking of undiluted wine except for medical purposes, the Sumptuariae Leges of ancient Rome were various laws passed to prevent inordinate expense in banquets and dress, such as the use of expensive Tyrian purple dye. In the early years of the Empire, men were forbidden to wear silk and it was considered the duty of government to put a check upon extravagance in personal expenditure, and such restrictions are found in laws attributed to the kings of Rome and in the Twelve Tables. The Roman censors, who were entrusted with the disciplina or cura morum, in it were listed the names of everyone found guilty of a luxurious mode of living, a great many instances of this kind are recorded. As the Roman Republic wore on, further laws were passed, however, towards the end of the Republic. Any such laws which may have existed were ignored during the period of profligate luxury characterizing the height of the Roman Empire. During the height of the Empire, such vast quantities of silk were imported from Sinica along the Silk Road that Imperial advisers warned that Roman silver reserves were becoming exhausted, Sumptuary laws existed in China in one form or another from the Qin dynasty onwards. The Confucian virtue of restraint was embodied in the scholarly system central to Chinas bureaucracy, some laws concerned the size and decoration of graves and mausoleums. The location of graves, and the number of attendant statues depended on rank, after circa 1550, sumptuary law in China was reformed. According to Britannica Online, In feudal Japan sumptuary laws were passed with a frequency, during the Tokugawa period in Japan, people of every class were subject to strict sumptuary laws that included regulation of the types of clothing that could be worn. Islamic sumptuary laws are based upon teachings found in the Quran, males are exhorted not to wear silk clothes, nor have jewelry made of gold. Likewise, wearing clothes or robes that drag on the ground, seen as a sign of vanity and these rules do not apply to women, who are allowed all this. Prohibition of depictions of human and animal figures in general are similar to those of the Quranic prohibition on graven images, hadiths do allow the depiction of animals on clothing items
25.
Pyatthat
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Pyatthat is the name of a multistaged roof, with an odd number of tiers. The pyatthat is commonly incorporated into Burmese Buddhist and royal architecture, the pyatthat is made of successive gabled rectangular roofs in an exaggerated pyramidal shape, with an intervening box-like structure called the lebaw between each roof. The pyatthat is crowned with a wooden spire called the taing bu or kun bu depending on its shape, similar to the hti, the edges of each tier are gold-gilded decorative designs made of metal sheet, with decorative ornaments called du yin at the corners. There are three kinds of pyatthat, with the variation being the number of tiers called boun. Three-tiered, five-tiered and seven-tiered roofs are called yahma, thooba, the usage of the pyatthat began early in Burmese architecture, with examples dating to the Pagan period. Prominent examples from this era that feature the pyatthat include the Ananda Temple, in pre-colonial Burma, the pyatthat was a prominent feature in the royal buildings, which itself symbolized Tavatimsa, a Buddhist heaven. Furthermore, the 12 city gates of Burmese royal capitals were crowned with pyatthats, with the ones used by royalty possessing five tiers
26.
Balustrade
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Multiplied in this way, they form a balustrade. Individually, a baluster shaft may describe the form taken by a brass or silver candlestick. According to OED, baluster is derived through the French, balustre, from Italian, balaustro, from balaustra, pomegranate flower, from Latin balaustium, from Greek βαλαύστιον. The earliest examples are shown in the bas-reliefs representing the Assyrian palaces. The application to architecture was a feature of the early Renaissance, late fifteenth-century examples are found in the balconies of palaces at Venice and these quattrocento balustrades are likely to be following yet-unidentified Gothic precedents. They form balustrades of colonnettes as an alternative to miniature arcading, sangallo passed the motif to Bramante and Michelangelo, through whom balustrades gained wide currency in the 16th century. Because of its low center of gravity, this vase-baluster may be given the modern term dropped baluster. The baluster, being a structure, tends to follow design precedents that were set in woodworking and ceramic practices, where the turners lathe. The profile a baluster takes is often diagnostic of a style of architecture or furniture. Some complicated Mannerist baluster forms can be read as a vase set upon another vase, modern baluster design is also in use for example in designs influenced by the Arts and Crafts movement in a 1905 row of houses in Etchingham Park Road Finchley London England. The modern term baluster shaft is applied to the shaft dividing a window in Saxon architecture, in the south transept of the Abbey in St Albans, England, are some of these shafts, supposed to have been taken from the old Saxon church. Norman bases and capitals have been added, together with plain cylindrical Norman shafts, balusters are normally separated by at least the same measurement as the size of the square bottom section. Placing balusters too far apart diminishes their aesthetic appeal, balustrades normally terminate in columns, building walls or more properly in heavy newel posts because otherwise they will not be structurally strong enough. Balusters may be formed in several ways, wood and stone can be shaped on the lathe, wood can be cut from square or rectangular section boards, while concrete, plaster, iron, and plastics are usually formed by molding and casting. Turned patterns or old examples are used for the molds, Cast iron Cast stone Hardwoods and softwoods Plaster Polymer stone Polyurethane/polystyrene Wrought iron The word banister refers to the balusters of a stairway. According to many dictionaries - a, a handrail, especially on a staircase. Such a handrail together with its supporting structures, the Renaissance baluster and Palladio in Palladio and English Palladianism
27.
Third Anglo-Burmese War
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The Third Anglo-Burmese War, also known as the Third Burma War, was a conflict that took place during 7–29 November 1885, with sporadic resistance and insurgency continuing into 1887. It was the final of three wars fought in the 19th century between the Burmese and the British, following the war, Burma came under the rule of the British Raj as a province of India. From 1937 the British governed Burma as a separate colony, after World War II Burma achieved independence as a republic in 1948. Following a succession crisis in Burma in 1878, the British Resident in Burma was withdrawn, the British considered a new war in response but other ongoing wars in Africa and Afghanistan led them to reject a war at that time. During the 1880s, the British became concerned about contacts between Burma and France, wars in Indochina had brought the French to the borders of Burma. In May 1883, a high-level Burmese delegation left for Europe, officially it was to gather industrial knowledge, but it soon made its way to Paris where it began negotiations with the French Foreign Minister Jules Ferry. Ferry eventually admitted to the British ambassador that the Burmese were attempting to negotiate an alliance along with a purchase of military equipment. The British were troubled by the Burmese action and relations worsened between the two countries, during the discussions between the French and Burmese in Paris, a boundary dispute on the frontier of India and Burma broke out. In 1881, the British authorities in India appointed a commission to mark out the border between the two countries. In the course of its work, the commission began demanding the Burmese authorities in villages determined by the British to be on their side of the line should withdraw, the Burmese objected continuously, but eventually backed down. In 1885, the French consul M. Hass moved to Mandalay, the British reacted with diplomatic force and convinced the French government to recall Haas who was removed allegedly for reasons of health. While the French had backed down in Burma, the French actions as well as other events convinced the British to take action against Burma. A fine was imposed on the Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation for under-reporting its extractions of teak from Toungoo, the company was fined by a Burmese court, and some of its timber was seized by the Burmese officials. The company and the British government claimed the charges were false, the British demanded the Burmese government accept a British-appointed arbitrator to settle the dispute. When the Burmese refused, the British issued an ultimatum on 22 October 1885, the acceptance of the ultimatum would have ended any real Burmese independence and reduced the country to something similar to the nominally-autonomous princely puppet states of British India. By 9 November, a refusal of the terms having been received at Rangoon, the occupation of Mandalay. The annexation of the Burmese kingdom had probably also been decided, major-General, afterwards Sir, Harry Prendergast was placed in command of the invasion. As was only to be expected in an enterprise of this description, the navy as well as the army was called in requisition, and as usual the services rendered by the seamen and guns were most important
28.
Ordination hall
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The constitution of the sīmā is regulated and defined by the Vinaya and its commentaries and sub-commentaries. In Burmese, ordination halls are called thein, derived from the Pali term sīmā, the thein is a common feature of Burmese monasteries, although the thein may be not necessarily be located on the monastery compound. Shan ordination halls, called sim, are used for events limited to the monkhood. In Thai, ordination halls are called ubosot or bot, derived from the Pali term uposathagara, the bot is the focal point of Central Thai temples, whereas the focal point of Northern Thai temples is the stupa. The bot, as the principal building, is also used for communal services. In the Thai tradition, the boundary of the hall is marked by bai sema. The oldest bai sema date to the Dvaravati period, andaw-thein Temple Htukkanthein Temple Kalyani Ordination Hall Upali Ordination Hall
29.
Vinaya
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The Vinaya is the regulatory framework for the sangha or monastic community of Buddhism based on the canonical texts called the Vinaya Pitaka. The teachings of the Gautama Buddha can be divided into two categories, Dharma doctrine and Vinaya discipline. Extant vinaya texts include those of the Theravada, the Kāśyapīya, the Mahāsāṃghika, the Mahīśāsaka, the Dharmaguptaka, the Sarvāstivāda, at the heart of the Vinaya is a set of rules known as Patimokkha in Pāli and Prātimokṣa in Sanskrit. The Vinaya was orally passed down from the Buddha to his disciples, eventually, numerous different Vinayas arose in Buddhism, based upon geographical or cultural differences and the different schools of Buddhism that developed. Three of these are still in use, Theravadin, Mulasarvastivadin and Dharmaguptakin, the Vinayas are the same in substance and have only minor differences. The Prātimokṣa is traditionally a section of the Vinaya, the Theravada Vinaya is preserved in the Pāli Canon in the Vinaya Piṭaka. The Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya is preserved in both the Tibetan Buddhist canon in the Kangyur, in a Chinese edition, and in an incomplete Sanskrit manuscript. As the nuns died out in all areas of the Theravada school, traditionally womens roles as renunciates were limited to taking eight or ten Precepts. Such women appears as maechi in Thai Buddhism, dasa sil mata in Sri Lanka, thilashin in Burma, some schools in Japan technically follow this, but many monks there are married, which can be considered a violation of the rules. Other Japanese monks follow the Bodhisattva Precepts only, which was excerpted from the Mahāyāna version of Brahmajālasutra, and the Bodhisattva Precepts contains two parts of precepts, for lay and clergy. According to Chinese Buddhist tradition, one who wants to observe the Bodhisattva Precepts for clergy, must observe the Ten Precepts and High Ordination first. Tibetan Buddhists in Tibet, Bhutan, Mongolia, Nepal, Ladakh and other follow the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya. In addition to these rules, there are many supplementary ones. The Buddha constantly reminds his hearers that it is the spirit of the rules that counts, on the other hand, the rules themselves are designed to assure a satisfying life, and provide a perfect springboard for the higher attainments. Monastics are instructed by the Buddha to live as islands unto themselves, in this sense, living life as the vinaya prescribes it is, as one scholar puts it, more than merely a means to an end, it is very nearly the end in itself. Surrounding the rules is a range of texts, some of these explain the origins of the rules - it is possible to trace the development of the rules from responses to specific situations or actions to a general codification. There are also a number of texts that are more general statements about Buddhist doctrine, or that give biographical details of some of the great disciples. Other sections detail how the rules are to be applied, how breaches are to be dealt with and it is thought that originally there were no rules and the Buddha and his disciples just lived in harmony when they were together
30.
Gold leaf
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Gold leaf is gold that has been hammered into thin sheets by goldbeating and is often used for gilding. Gold leaf is available in a variety of karats and shades. The most commonly used gold is 22-karat yellow gold, Gold leaf is a type of metal leaf, but the term is rarely used when referring to gold leaf. The term metal leaf is used for thin sheets of metal of any color that do not contain any real gold. Real yellow gold leaf is about 91. 7% pure gold, silver colored white gold is approximately 50% pure gold. Layering gold leaf over a surface is called gold leafing or gilding, traditional water gilding is the most difficult and highly regarded form of gold leafing. It has remained unchanged for hundreds of years and is still done by hand. Gold leaf is used in art in a raw state. It has been used in jewellery in various periods, often as small pieces hanging freely. Gold glass is gold leaf held between two pieces of glass, and was used for decorated Ancient Roman vessels, where some of the gold was scraped off to form an image, Gold leaf is also used in Buddhist art to decorate statues and symbols. Gold leafing can also be seen on domes in religious and public architecture, from the ancient temples to modern day buildings, gold leaf has been an integral component of architecture to designate important structures since the dawn of humankind. Due to gold’s resilience, golden-domed buildings can stand up to weather, deterioration and even modern pollution, Gold in architecture became an integral component of Byzantine and Roman churches and basilicas in 400 AD, most notably Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome. The church was built by Pope Sixtus III and is one of the earliest examples of gold mosaics, the mosaics were made of stone, tile or glass backed on gold leaf walls, giving the church a beautifully intricate backdrop. The 14th century campanile, or bell tower, is the highest in Rome, the apse mosaic, the Coronation of the Virgin, is from 1295, signed by the Franciscan friar, Jacopo Torriti. It is also the location of ceremonial spaces, such as the Hall of Honour, the Memorial Chamber. Capping the room is a ceiling with deep octagonal coffers, each filled with heraldic symbols, including maple leaves, fleur-de-lis, lions rampant, clàrsach, Welsh Dragons. This plane rests on six pairs and four pilasters, each of which is capped by a caryatid. Below the windows is an architrave, broken only by baldachins at the base of each of the above pilasters
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Reliquary
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A reliquary is a container for relics. These may be the purported or actual physical remains of saints, such as bones, pieces of clothing, the authenticity of any given relic is often a matter of debate, for that reason, some churches require documentation of the relics provenance. Relics have long been important to Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, in these cultures, reliquaries are often presented in shrines, churches, or temples to which the faithful make pilgrimages in order to gain blessings. Relics are venerated in the Oriental Orthodox, Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, reliquaries provide a means of protecting and displaying relics. While frequently taking the form of caskets, they range in size from simple pendants or rings to very elaborate ossuaries, ivory was widely used in the Middle Ages for reliquaries, its pure white color an indication of the holy status of its contents. These objects constituted a form of artistic production across Europe. Many were designed with portability in mind, often being exhibited in public or carried in procession on the saints feast day or on holy days. Pilgrimages often centered on the veneration of relics, the faithful often venerate relics by bowing before the reliquary or kissing it. Those churches which observe the veneration of relics make a distinction between the honor given to the saints and the worship that is due to God alone. The feretrum was a form of reliquary or shrine containing the sacred effigies. In the late Middle Ages the craze for relics, many now fraudulent, became extreme, 16th-century reformers such as Martin Luther opposed the use of relics since many had no proof of historic authenticity, and they objected to the cult of saints. Nonetheless, the use and manufacture of reliquaries continues to this day, especially in Roman Catholic, post-Reformation reliquaries have tended to take the form of glass-sided caskets to display relics such as the bodies of saints. The earliest reliquaries were essentially boxes, either simply box-shaped or based on an architectural design and these latter are known by the French term chasse, and typical examples from the 12th to 14th century have wooden frameworks with gilt-copper plaques nailed on, decorated in champlevé enamel. Limoges was the largest centre of production, NB the English usage differs from that of the French châsse, relics of the True Cross became very popular from the 9th century onwards and were housed in magnificent gold and silver cross-shaped reliquaries, decorated with enamels and precious stones. Similarly, the bones of saints were often housed in reliquaries that recalled the shape of the body part. A philatory is a transparent reliquary designed to contain and exhibit the bones and this style of reliquary has a viewing portal by which to view the relic contained inside. During the later Middle Ages, the form, mostly used for consecrated hosts, was sometimes used for reliquaries. These housed the relic in a crystal or glass capsule mounted on a column above a base
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Zayat
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A zayat is a Burmese building found in almost every village. It serves primarily as a shelter for travelers, at the time, is also an assembly place for religious occasions as well as meeting for the villagers to discuss the needs. Theravada buddhist monks use zayats as their place while they are exercising precepts on sabath days. Buddhist monasteries may have one or more zayats nearby, donors mostly build Zayats along main roads aiming to provide the exhausted travelers with water and shelter. Beginning with Adoniram Judsons construction of one in 1818 Christian missionaries have also adopted their use, contributions, in money or labor, towards the construction, running or elaboration of a zayat are seen as dāna. Thus zayats are generally built in a durable and costly manner than most private houses. The labor is provided by locals, while the financing may be local or remote. Some zayats have evolved other functions over time, for example, the Jivitadana Sangha Hospital for Buddhist monks and nuns began as a clinic at a zayat. The first Fu Manchu story entitled The Zayat Kiss was published as a magazine story in 1912. This and the nine stories were combined into the novel The Mystery of Dr. Fu Manchu in 1913
33.
Nat (spirit)
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The nats are spirits worshipped in Burma in conjunction with Buddhism. They are divided between the 37 Great Nats and all the rest, almost all of the 37 Great Nats were human beings who met violent deaths. They may thus also be called nat sein, the word sein, while meaning green, is being used to mean raw in this context. There are however two types of nats in Burmese Buddhist belief, nat spirits are termed lower nats or auk nats, whether named or unnamed, whereas ahtet nats or higher nat dewas inhabit the six heavens. Much like sainthood, nats can be designated for a variety of reasons, nat worship is less common in urban areas than in rural areas, and is practised among ethnic minorities as well as in the mainstream Bamar society. It is however among the Buddhist Bamar that the most highly developed form of ceremony, every Burmese village has a nat sin which essentially serves as a shrine to the village guardian nat called the ywa saung nat. One may inherit a certain member or in some two of the 37 Nats as mi hsaing hpa hsaing from one or both parents side to worship depending on where their families originally come from. One also has a guardian spirit called ko saung nat. Some disagreement in fact exists in academic circles as to whether Burmese Buddhism, many Burmese themselves would say it is merely superstition and tend to downplay its role in society. Worship of nats predates Buddhism in Burma, with the arrival of Buddhism, however, the nats were merged, syncretistically, with Buddhism. The most important nat pilgrimage site in Burma is Mount Popa, the annual festival is held on the full moon of the month of Natdaw of the Burmese calendar. Taungbyone, north of Mandalay, is another site with the festival held each year starting on the eleventh waxing day. Yadanagu at Amarapura, held a week later in honour of Popa Medaw, Nats have human characteristics, wants, and needs. They are flawed, having desires considered derogatory and immoral in mainstream Buddhism, during a nat pwè, which is a festival during which nats are propitiated, nat kadaws dance and embody the nats spirit in a trance. Historically, the nat kadaw profession was hereditary and passed from mother to daughter, until the 1980s, few nat gadaws were male. Since the 1980s, persons identified by outsiders as transgender women or gay male transvestites have increasingly performed these roles, music, often accompanied by a hsaing waing, adds much to the mood of the nat pwè, and many are entranced. King Anawrahta of Bagan designated an official pantheon of 37 nats after he had failed to enforce a ban on nat worship, seven out of the 37 Nats appear to be directly associated with the life and times of Anawrahta. The Thirty-seven Nats-A Phase of Spirit-Worship prevailing in Burma
34.
Dharma (Buddhism)
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Dharma is a key concept with multiple meanings in the Indian religions — Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism. There is no single word translation for dharma in western languages, in Buddhism dharma means cosmic law and order, but is also applied to the teachings of the Buddha. In Buddhist philosophy, dhamma/dharma is also the term for phenomena, Dharma in Jainism refers to the teachings of tirthankara and the body of doctrine pertaining to the purification and moral transformation of human beings. For Sikhs, the word means the path of righteousness. The Classical Sanskrit noun dharma is a derivation from the root dhṛ, the word dharma was already in use in the historical Vedic religion, and its meaning and conceptual scope has evolved over several millennia. The antonym of dharma is adharma, the Classical Sanskrit noun dharma is a derivation from the root dhṛ, which means to hold, maintain, keep, and takes a meaning of what is established or firm, and hence law. It is derived from an older Vedic Sanskrit n-stem dharman-, with a meaning of bearer, supporter. In the Rigveda, the word appears as an n-stem, dhárman-, figuratively, it means sustainer and supporter. It is semantically similar to the Greek Ethos, in Classical Sanskrit, the noun becomes thematic, dharma-. The word dharma derives from Proto-Indo-European root *dʰer-, which in Sanskrit is reflected as class-1 root √dhṛ, etymologically it is related to Avestan √dar-, Latin firmus, Lithuanian derė́ti, Lithuanian dermė and darna and Old Church Slavonic drъžati. Classical Sanskrit word dharmas would formally match with Latin o-stem firmus from Proto-Indo-European *dʰer-mo-s holding, were it not for its development from earlier Rigvedic n-stem. In Classical Sanskrit, and in the Vedic Sanskrit of the Atharvaveda, in Pāli, it is rendered dhamma. In some contemporary Indian languages and dialects it occurs as dharm. Dharma is a concept of central importance in Indian philosophy and religion and it has multiple meanings in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. It is difficult to provide a concise definition for dharma, as the word has a long and varied history and straddles a complex set of meanings. There is no equivalent single word translation for dharma in western languages, there have been numerous, conflicting attempts to translate ancient Sanskrit literature with the word dharma into German, English and French. The concept, claims Paul Horsch, has caused difficulties for modern commentators and translators. Dharma root is dhri, which means ‘to support, hold and it is the thing that regulates the course of change by not participating in change, but that principle which remains constant
35.
Shin Upagutta
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Shin Upagutta is a Buddhist arahant commonly venerated by Buddhists in Burma, as he is believed to protect worshipers from danger, including floods and storms. He is also venerated in Northern Thailand and Laos, where he is known as Upakhut and he is commonly depicted sitting cross-legged, dressed in monks robes and with a hand tilted into an alms bowl called a thabeik, and is associated with nāga, water serpents. Shin Upagutta is commonly venerated by people in the Ayeyarwady delta region, a major festival dedicated to Shin Upagutta is in Shwegyin, near Bago, during the Burmese month of Thadingyut. Another, called the Ye Hmyaw Pwe, is held in Yangons Chinatown in October and involves a Chinese-style procession, Buddhism in Burma Shin Thiwali Ari Buddhism Upagupta
36.
Atumashi Monastery
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The Atumashi Monastery is a Buddhist monastery located in Mandalay, Myanmar. It was built in 1857 by King Mindon, two years after the capital was moved to Mandalay, the monastery was built at a cost of 500,000 rupees. The structure burned down in 1890 after a fire in the city destroyed both the monastery and the 30 feet tall Buddha image, as well as sets of the Tipitaka. During the fire, a 19. 2-carat diamond, which adorned the Buddha image disappeared as well, in 1996, Burmas Archaeological Department reconstructed the monastery with prison labor
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