Burmese Days and Flowers (I)

 

 

(Illustration - Maung Yit)

Each year during the water festival which welcomes the Burmese New Year which falls on the 2^nd week of April every year, we make the Thingyan Pot or we called it ‘A Tar Pot’. 

 

(Thingyan Pot also known as 'A Tar Pot.)

It is a pot of flowers representing the seven-day born to welcome Tha- Gyar-Min, king of the celestials who comes and visits the human abode during Thingyan festival. Thingyan Pot is culturally Burmese and Buddhist in nature.

 

(Tha-Gyar-Min King of the celestials.  - drawing by Maung Yit.)

Burmese Buddhists show their loving kindness to all the human being by offering the ‘Seven-Day-Born’ flowers or leaves at the foot of the pagodas. (We believe there is no enemy among the ‘what-day-born’. All is given equally our loving kindness.)

At the foot of the Buddha image, we recite:

‘I take refuge in Buddha;

I take refuge in His Teachings,

I take refuge in the Sangha, His order of the Yellow Robe.’

After reciting and praying, we put a set of flowers and leaves which represent seven-day-born, into a large vase placed at the foot of the Pagoda. At that time, we believe that such good deeds can save all the seven-day-born people around the world, wishing that they will be happy and healthy for the coming year.

 

(Set a flowers and leaves into a large vase placed at the foot of the Pagoda.)

The act of offering at the foot of the pagoda, flowers, colored flags and streamers, which means ‘dhana’ or giving, an important aspect of Buddhist teaching that may be the secret of our happiness, our fortitude, our stay, protecting us form all the dangers even from the natural disasters?

(Read in detail; The book called ‘Burmese Days and Flowers’ in kindle ebook at this link as http://www.amazon.com/Burmese-Days-Flowers-Junior-ebook/dp/B00DMNELJS/ref=sr_1_18?ie=UTF8&qid=1372332470&sr=8-18&keywords=moemaka,

and published book link as http://myanmarbookshop.com/EnglishBooks/BookDetails/29371)