13 January
As we all know that a great majority of people living in Myanmar believe in Buddhism and practice the way what Buddha had taught us to attain Nirvana —the ultimate goal of Buddhism or the enlightenment. Basically Buddhist monks are the ones who teach laymen Buddhists about how to practice the essence and authenticity of Buddhism besides saying prayer and worship. In Myanmar, Buddhist doctrine is conserved by Buddhist monks indeed.
We, Myanmar Buddhists pay respect to those venerable and virtuous Buddhist monks who dedicate their lives to Buddhism by means of disseminating Buddha literature, teaching and method of Buddha way of meditation to their disciples and laymen. In Myanmar, Buddhist culture is dominating the vast majority of people since Buddhism is considered a major religion in it.
Among the Buddhist countries in the world, Myanmar Buddhists significantly and culturally celebrate the funeral of Buddhist monk with dirge and traditional funeral decoration as a final rite. Across the country, when a certain revered Buddhist monk passes away, the disciple and his followers arrange for the funeral for the departed one in a traditional way. The laymen pay last homage to the departed revered Buddhist abbot by singing dirge around his remains. In other words, the laymen sing funeral song or dirge extolling the virtues of the departed monk. The song consists of the words of praises and honor of the departed monk. In addition, his efforts in propagating Buddhism during his monkhood are described in the song.
The song is played by Myanmar musical instruments or Myanmar orchestra. The traditionally-decorated casket of the departed Buddhist monk is placed in the pandal for the laymen and his fellow monks to pay final homage. The disciples or laymen in the locality pay homage to his remains and express sad feelings on the demise of the revered Buddhist monk. Significantly, as a ritual dirge, the laymen play and sing in order to show their deep sadness on the departed monk. The woman singer wearing in theatrical costumes sings a slow sad song or a piece of music while the funeral ceremony is in progress.
Depending on the disciples wish and desire, the remains of the departed Buddhist monk or the ashes of the departed Buddhist monk are kept in the decorative casket in the traditionally-built pandal for a couple of months or a few months. When the final rite is held, the ritual dirge is also played and performed by the woman professional singers and dancers of Myanmar. People nearby the village or town come to this occasion to watch and listen to the ritual dirge of the funeral ceremony of a revered Buddhist monk or abbot. The songs sung by the woman singer or dancer are composed in both Myanmar and Pali languages. The singer not only sings melancholic songs but also performs the heart- felt facial lamentation in proximity to the remains of the revered Buddhist monk which are placed in the traditionally made decorative- emerald- cradle inside the pandal.
While playing and singing dirge, the woman singer gently and mournfully rocks the traditionally made decorativeemerald -cradle in which the remains of the revered Buddhist monk are laid. The sad song or dirge and the heart-felt facial lamentation of the performance of the woman singer dressed in Myanmar theatrical costumes touch the captive audience as well as the disciples. Besides, she extols the departed Buddhist monk’s dedication to Buddhism, virtues and rectitude. Thus, audience could learn the career and dignity of the passed-away-monk and they pay homage to the remains of the Sayardaw (the abbot).
Actually, it is not easy for singers to sing this kind of funeral song because it has to be sung with emotion, clarity of Pali words (of an oriental language) and singing skill. The woman singers or dancers who specialized and learned this dirge or funeral song for the departed Buddhist monk can sing Aye-Yint- Kyuu -song ( Myanmar term ) and can act or perform systematically and properly indeed. That’s why all the Myanmar traditional dancers cannot sing and perform at the funeral of Buddhist monk. Furthermore, it is an interesting and valuable traditional art of performance in Myanmar used for the last funeral rite of revered Sayadaws ( Revered Buddhist Monks ).This sort of ceremony is held in the small towns and in some rural areas whenever the revered Buddhist monk passes away. In the big cities, it can be observed rarely. The local laymen and disciples conduct the funeral and the ritual dirge is played with Myanmar musical instruments and sung by the skilful traditional woman dancer or woman singer. Hopefully, this article can fulfill the knowledge of a part of Buddhist culture with traditional rites for foreigners those who study Myanmar Buddhist Culture and Traditional Rites in Myanmar!
Credit; Original Photographer and the traditional dancer Sa-Ga-War-Myay
Daw Ohnmar Khin (စကားဝါမြေဥမ္မာခင်)
By:Tommy Pauk
