The centre of this craft was and still is Mandalay,the long-standing hub of Myanmar culture and art. The ancient ceremonial royal raiment known as the “Maha Latta”,worn from time immemorial by kings and queens is a very heavy gold-embroidered and gem encrusted robe. The Maha Latta was worn by King Thibaw and Queen Suhpayalatt. the last reigning monarchs of Myanmar. Their robes were the creation of skilled seamstresses. goldsmiths and other artisans of Mandalay. These raiment are on display at the National Museum in Yangon.

The embroidery of gold thread and gems is so fine and intricate that it defies the imagination of an unskilled layman. The most outstanding artisans became court craftsmen by royal appointment. They sewed and embroidered all kinds of royal raiment for the monarch and the royal family. ministers and generals. from headgear down to footwear as well as other furnishings for the royal palace such as wall tapestry. fans. cushions. pillows and so forth.

The national ethnic groups also favor gold embroidered garments and headgear. The ceremonial dress and headgear of the Mon. Rakhine. Shan. Palaung. Kachin. Kayah. Padaung. Akhar and many others are heavily embroidered in gold and silver thread and encrusted with silver ornaments and beads. They are really gorgeous.

It takes a lot of time. practice and perseverance to become skilled in this decorative art of embroidery. To create an artistic piece of traditional Myanmar gold thread embroidery one needs a piece of white cloth of suitable proportions that has to be stretched and tightened on a square wooden frame. Then on the rigid and smooth surface the figures or patterns desired are sketched in outline with charcoal or pencil. In ancient times the basic design were floral patterns. vines and curlicues.

The sketched outlines are then stitched over with gold. silver or colored thread. This is the edging or border of the central picture of the embroidery. Then comes the ornaments that are sewed on such as silver stars. sequins. cut glass. beads and seed pearls to bring the picture to life. This part of the embroidery is called “ayoke cha gyin”. which literally means “laying down the figure”. Then the stitches are brushed over with glue on the underside to strengthen and prevent the threads from breaking. It also makes it easier to cut out the figures separately.

The cut figures or pictures are then appliquéd on the piece of velvet or satin or silk which will form the background of the embroidery. However an opening is left through which cotton is later stuffed to make an embossed figure. Then other adornments such as sequins. beads. seed pearls and semi-precious and even precious gems are added around the figure which is the central theme of the embroidery to form a backdrop.

Depending on the main figure or theme this backdrop could be a palace or a pond. a forest glade or a galaxy of stars or just patterns pleasing to the eye. Some of the more elaborate tapestries bring to life tales from the Jatakas. tales of velour and historic events. Sometimes a color painting or a patchwork of colored velvet is worked into the picture. Whatever it may be. it certainly requires great skill and artistry. The gem studded embroidery has to also call upon the work of gold and silver smiths. So a picturesque Myanmar tapestry is hardly the work of a single craftsman but a cooperative effort.

The patterns and names given to the small colored cut glass are equally fascinating. Some of them are called Diamond Dome. Rhomboid. Emerald Square and Banyan leaf. The sequins used in the embroidery for royal wear was made of genuine gold or silver and the artisans who made them lived in their own colony known as “Kyaikhat Win” as their descendants still do today. The ward where the gold embroidery is famous for is still known as “Shwechi Hto” ward to this day.In creating gold embroidery. the size. color. designs and patterns as well as the materials to be used depend on the object it is intended for. and in the days of the monarchy the place or person intended for.

A whole range of objects was adorned with gold and silver tapestries including monasteries and palaces. Some tapestries were used to adorn the ceiling of a shrine hall or used as room dividers and wall hangings in monasteries in palaces. Sometimes an entire wall would be hung with heavy tapestry. Other smaller objects such as fans were edged with gold embroidery. Then there were cushions and pillows and even palm leaf manuscripts that were ornamented with delicate gold embroidery. Royal crowns and coronets. headdresses and turbans. cuffs and sashes were embroidered with suitable insignia of rank and royalty. Other apparel for royalty were embroidered with pure gold thread and gems right down to the footwear. The harnesses and saddles of elephants and horses were also decorated with such embroidery for auspicious and ceremonial occasions.

The traditional designs and patterns were usually based on the Jataka tales and historic events or were depictions of celestial bodies and nature at different seasons of the year. There were also animals from elephants and lions to birds. Nowadays. Myanmar tapestry has become an attraction for tourists from abroad and there is a wide range of objects in gold embroidery. The traditional tapestries are still available but there are many eye-catching novelties like clutch purses. handbags. cushion covers and even baseball caps. But the basic figures and illustrations and the techniques remain about the same. Because of the huge popularity of Myanmar gold embroidered articles the previously small cottage industry has now spread to Yangon and other places. This has opened up employment opportunities for women with a skill and talent for needlework.

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This game is usually played barefoot or using chinlone shoes that will let the players feel the ball and the ground. The players can make contact with the ball through the top of their toes, the inner and outer sides of the foot, the heel, the sole, and the knee. The sport requires extreme flexibility, agility and fitness as well as exceptional coordination.

Chinlone has played a prominent role in Myanmar for about 1,500 years. It’s style is so performance based because it was first created as a means of entertaining Burmese royalty. Chinlone is heavily influenced by traditional Burmese martial art and dance, another reason as to why so much importance is placed upon technique. As it is such an old game, many variations have been made to it, including hundreds of different ways or moves to use when maneuvering the ball.

In addition to the original form of chinlone, there is a single performance style as well. This form of chinlone is called “tapandaing.” While chinlone had been widely considered by Europeans to more of a game than a sport, international interest in chinlone grew rapidly. By 1911, chinlone teams were performing in parts of Europe and Asia. As spectators of chinlone, Europeans deemed it to be merely a game of indigenous people, too effeminate to be considered a sport.

After Myanmar’s independence from British colonial rule in 1948, many British influences and cultural practices lingered, including British sports such as polo. Past British colonialism still weighed heavily upon Burmese life. From the 1960’s and onward, there was a big governmental push for traditional and historical preservation. The premise was for cultural pride to be renewed.

Myanmar needed traditions that were unique to Burmese culture, free from any colonial influence. Chinlone fit this role perfectly, playing a key part in establishing Myanmar nationalism. Myanmar began implementing physical education in schools, teaching children from a young age about traditional sports like chinlone, as a way to educate and pride them on their culture. This was a small yet effective way in reestablishing Burmese life after colonial rule. With this new found nationalism, chinlone was finally considered a real sport.

Nowadays, chinlone is played by men and women, young and old alike. It is a very common scene in both urban and rural areas to witness a circle of men barefoot with their longyis hiked up and wrapped around their legs and waists spending the final hours of daylight in intense concentration passing the ball around, honing their skills and getting some exercise with friends.

This casual form of the sport hops right up to a formal and more competitive form at the annual Waso Chinlone Festival held in a small stadium in the grounds of the famous Mahamuni Pagoda in Mandalay. The festival takes place for a month around the full moon of Waso. Teams from all over the country travel to Mandalay to perform to live, loud and rhythmic traditional Burmese music at this festival.

A commentator provides lively narration on what the players are doing while panel of judges rates them on their style and form. They perform as a team but not against any other team. For the first time, chinlone was an official sport at the SEA Games hosted by Myanmar in 2013 when Myanmar won gold medals in six out of eight categories.

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The term Zartar is derived from the pali word Zati which means birth. It is a method of recording the salient facts about a person at the time of their birth. Included in the calculations are the date and time of delivery, the astrological features at that time, such as the location of the stars, sun and moon. Both of the parents names are recorded on the leaf, as is the name given to that person by an astrologer. Once the inscriptions have been added onto the palm leaf, it is rubbed lightly with oil, which acts to provide protection from hungry insects and imbues it with a lovely golden colour. Zartar can also be made using other materials such as ivory, marble, or bamboo depending on individual choice and budget. A particularly fine example is on show at the National Museum in Yangon- and was made for King Thibaw.

Many people still put a lot of faith in Zartar and they continue to play an important role in the society becuase people believe that the timing, day, date and astrological signs associated with a person at birth have great influence on the life of that person. The choice of a person’s name is tremendously important to parents as well. The name may represent the virtues of longevity, wealth, health, great love, dedication and/or many other things. It is also widely believed that a person’s name-and their date and time of birth-can affect their behaviour. For example, each day of the week is designated a symbolic animal, and a person born on that particular day is believed to possess certain characheristics: Those born on Sundays are considered to be vain, Monday-born are short tempered.

Finally, seven birth signs included in the Zartar depending on the day and year of birth, which are believed to have influence on one’s fate. They are Adphipadhi, sign of fame; Ahtun, brilliance; Thike, wealth; Raza, glory; Marana, weakness; Bingha, unrest; and Puti, failure.I was born on Thursday and my father went to a monk right away to choose a name for me. After that, he went to astrologer and asked him to make a Zatar and inscribed my name. I’ll keep that small piece of “Palm Leaf” for my whole life.

Palm leaves were used as writing materials in South Asia and in Southeast Asia dating back to the 5th century, and possibly much earlier. Their use began in South Asia, and spread elsewhere, as texts on dried and smoke treated palm leaves of Borassus species (Palmyra palm) or the Ola leaf (leaf of Corypha umbraculifera or the talipot palm).

One of the oldest surviving palm leaf manuscript is a Sanskrit Shaivism text from the 9th-century, discovered in Nepal, now preserved at the Cambridge University Library. The individual sheets of palm leaves were called Patra or Parna in Sanskrit (Pali/Prakrit: Panna), and the medium when ready to write was called Tada-patra (or Tala-patra, Tali, Tadi). The famous 5th-century Indian manuscript called the Bower Manuscript discovered in Chinese Turkestan, was written on birch-bark sheets shaped in the form of treated palm leaves. Palm leaf manuscripts were written in ink on rectangular cut and cured palm leaf sheet.

Each sheet typically had a hole through which a string could pass through, and with these the sheets were tied together with a string to bind like a book. A palm leaf text thus created would typically last between a few decades and about 600 years before it decayed due to dampness, insect activity, mold and fragility. Thus the document had to be copied onto new sets of dried palm leaves. Hindu temples often served as centers where ancient manuscripts were routinely used for learning and where the texts were copied when they wore out.

In South India, temples and associated mutts served custodial functions, and a large number of manuscripts on Hindu philosophy, poetry, grammar and other subjects were written, multiplied and preserved inside the temples. Palm leaf manuscripts were also preserved inside Jain temples and in Buddhist monasteries. With the spread of Indian culture to Southeast Asian countries like as Indonesia, Cambodia, Thailand, and the Philippines, these nations also became home to large collections. Palm-leaf manuscripts called Lontar in dedicated stone libraries have been discovered by archaeologists at Hindu temples in Bali Indonesia and in 10th century Cambodian temples such as Angkor Wat and Banteay Srei.

One of the oldest surviving Sanskrit manuscripts on palm leaves is of the Parameshvaratantra, a Shaiva Siddhanta text of Hinduism. It is from the 9th-century, and dated to about 828 CE. The rounded or diagonal shapes of the letters of many of the scripts of South India and Southeast Asia, such as Devanagari, Nandinagari, Telugu script, Lontara, the Javanese script, the Balinese alphabet, the Odia alphabet, the Burmese alphabet, the Tamil script and others may have developed as an adaptation to writing on palm leaves, as angular letters tend to split the leaf.

Even though people in Myanmar are developing rapidly, their belief in Zartar has not changed, although the calculations are now printed on a sheet of paper or CD.

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