The nats (; MLCTS: ''nat''; ) are god-like spirits venerated in

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

and neighbouring countries in conjunction with

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

. They are divided between the 37 ''Great Nats'' who were given that status by King Anawrahta when he formalized the official list of nats. Most of the 37 ''Great Nats'' were human beings who met violent deaths. There are two types of ''nats'' in Burmese Belief: ''nat sein'' () which are humans that were deified after their deaths and all other nats which are spirits of nature (spirits of water, trees etc.). Much like

sainthood In Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Anglican, Oriental Orth ...

, ''nats'' can be designated for a variety of reasons, including those only known in certain regions in Burma. ''Nat'' worship is less common in urban areas than in rural areas and is practised among ethnic minorities of Myanmar as well as in mainstream

Bamar The Bamar people (Burmese language, Burmese: ဗမာလူမျိုး, ''ba. ma lu myui:'' ) (formerly known as Burmese people or Burmans) are a Sino-Tibetan-speaking ethnic group native to Myanmar (formerly known as Burma). With an esti ...

society. However, it is among the Theravada Buddhist Bamar that the most highly developed form of ceremony and ritual is seen. Every Burmese village has a ''nat kun'' (နတ်ကွန်း) or ''nat sin'' () which essentially serves as a shrine to the village guardian ''nat'' called the ''ywa saung nat'' (). Individual houses also have a shrine to a nat, usually a coconut is hung on a corner of the house or property, surrounded by perfume as an offering. One may inherit a certain member or in some instances two of the 37 ''Great 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 personal guardian deity called ''ko saung nat'' ().

Nat worship and Buddhism

Academic opinions vary as to whether Burmese Buddhism and Burmese spirit worship are two separate entities, or merged into a single religion. As with a rise of

globalization Globalization is the process of increasing interdependence and integration among the economies, markets, societies, and cultures of different countries worldwide. This is made possible by the reduction of barriers to international trade, th ...

, the importance of the nat religion on modern Myanmar and its people has been diminished. The formalizing of the official 37 ''Great Nats'' by King Anawrahta (1044–1077) of

Bagan Bagan ( ; ; formerly Pagan) is an ancient city and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Mandalay Region of Myanmar. From the 9th to 13th centuries, the city was the capital of the Pagan Kingdom, the first kingdom that unified the regions that w ...

, has been interpreted as Burmanisation and establishment of Bamar supremacy in the Irrawaddy valley after the unification of the country and founding of the First Burmese Empire. Worship of ''nats'' predates Buddhism in Burma. With the arrival of Buddhism, however, the ''nats'' were syncretically merged with Buddhism.

Nat worship and ecology

The widespread traditional belief among rural communities that there are forest guardian spirits called ''taw saung nat''s () and mountain guardian spirits called ''taung saung nat''s () appears to act as a deterrent against environmental destruction, up to a point. Indiscriminate felling, particularly of large trees, is generally eschewed owing to the belief that they are dwellings of tree spirits called Yokkaso (; tree spirit) and that such an act would bring the wrath of the ''nat'' upon the perpetrator.

Popular nat festivals

The most important ''nat'' pilgrimage site in Burma is Mount Popa, an extinct volcano with numerous temples and relic sites atop a 1300 metre-tall mountain located near

in central Burma. The annual festival is held on the full moon of the month of ''Natdaw'' (December) of the

Burmese calendar The Burmese calendar (, , or , ; Burmese Era (BE) or Myanmar Era (ME)) is a lunisolar calendar in which the months are based on lunar months and years are based on sidereal years. The calendar is largely based on an older version of the Hind ...

. Taungbyone, north of

Mandalay Mandalay is the second-largest city in Myanmar, after Yangon. It is located on the east bank of the Irrawaddy River, 631 km (392 mi) north of Yangon. In 2014, the city had a population of 1,225,553. Mandalay was founded in 1857 by Ki ...

in Madaya Township, is another major site with the festival held each year starting on the eleventh waxing day and including the full moon in the month ''Wagaung'' (August). Yadanagu at

Amarapura Amarapura (, , ; also spelt as Ummerapoora) is a former capital of Myanmar, and now a township of Mandalay city. Amarapura is bounded by the Irrawaddy river in the west, Chanmyathazi Township in the north, and the ancient capital site of Ava ...

, held a week later in honour of Popa Medaw ("Mother of Popa"), who was the mother of the Taungbyone Min Nyinaung ("Brother Lords"), is also a popular nat festival. ''Nats'' are ascribed human characteristics, wants, and needs; they are flawed, having desires considered derogatory and immoral in mainstream

.Lindsey Merrison (Producer), & Merrison, L. (Director). (2001). Friends in High Places. ideo/DVDDocumentary Educational Resources (DER). Retrieved from https://video.alexanderstreet.com/watch/friends-in-high-places During a ''nat pwè'', which is a festival during which ''nats'' are propitiated, ''nat kadaw''s ( "wife of the spirit", i.e. " medium,

shaman Shamanism is a spiritual practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with the spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritual energies into ...

") dance and embody the ''nats''. Historically, the ''nat kadaw'' profession was hereditary and passed from mother to daughter. Until the 1980s, few ''nat gadaw''s were male. Since the 1980s, persons identified by outsiders as

trans women A trans woman or transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity and may experience gender dysphoria (distress brought upon by the discrepancy between a person's gender identity and their ...

have increasingly performed these roles. Music, often accompanied by a hsaing waing ("orchestra"), adds much to the mood of the ''nat pwè'', and many are entranced. People come from far to take part in the festivities in various shrines called ''nat kun'' or ''nat naan'', get drunk on

palm wine Palm wine, known by several #Names, local names, is an alcoholic beverage created from the sap of various species of palm trees such as the Borassus, palmyra, date palms, and coconut palms. It is known by various names in different regions and ...

and dance wildly in fits of ecstasy to the wild beat of the Hsaing waing music, possessed by the ''nats''. Whereas ''nat pwè''s are annual events celebrating a particular member of the 37 ''Great Nats'' regarded as the tutelary spirit in a local region within a local community, with familial custodians of the place and tradition and with royal sponsorship in ancient times, hence evocative of royal rituals, there are also ''nat kannah pwè''s where individuals would have a pavilion set up in a

neighbourhood A neighbourhood (Commonwealth English) or neighborhood (American English) is a geographically localized community within a larger town, city, suburb or rural area, sometimes consisting of a single street and the buildings lining it. Neighbourh ...

and the ritual is generally linked to the entire pantheon of ''nats''. The ''nat kadaw''s as an independent profession made their appearance in the latter half of the 19th century as spirit mediums, and ''nat kannah''s are more of an urban phenomenon which evolved to satisfy the need of people who had migrated from the countryside to towns and cities but who wished to carry on their traditions or ''yo-ya'' of supplicating the ''mi hsaing hpa hsaing'' tutelary deities of their native place.

List of official nats

King Anawrahta of Bagan (1044–1077) designated an official pantheon of 37 ''Great Nats'' after he had failed to enforce a ban on ''nat'' worship. His stratagem of incorporation eventually succeeded by bringing ''nats'' to Shwezigon Pagoda portrayed worshipping

Gautama Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),* * * was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist lege ...

and by enlisting Śakra, a Buddhist protective deity, to head the pantheon above the

Mahagiri Min Mahagiri (, ; ; also called Eindwin Nat; Burmese: အိမ်တွင်) is one of the 37 Nat (deity), nats in the Burmese pantheon of nat. Son of a famous blacksmith, U Tint Daw, his given name was Maung Tint De (Burmese: မောင် ...

nats as

Thagyamin Thagyamin (, ; from Sanskrit , ) is the highest-ranking Nat (deity), nat (deity) in traditional Buddhism in Myanmar, Burmese Buddhist belief. Considered as the king of Heaven, he is the Burmese adaptation of the Hindu deities Indra. Etymology ...

. Seven out of the 37 ''Great Nats'' appear to be directly associated with the life and times of Anawrahta. The official pantheon is made up predominantly of those from the royal houses of Burmese history, but also contains ''nats'' of Thai ( Yun Bayin) and Shan ( Maung Po Tu) descent; illustrations of them show them in Burmese royal dress. Listed in proper order, they are: #

() # Min Mahagiri () # Hnamadawgyi () # Shwe Nabay () # Thonbanhla () #

Taungoo Mingaung Taungoo Mingaung ( ) is one of the Thirty Seven '' nats'' in the official pantheon of Burmese ''nats''. He is portrayed sitting crosslegged on a simple couch wearing royal garments, holding a fan in his right hand and resting his left hand on his k ...

() # Mintara () # Thandawgan () # Shwe Nawrahta () # Aungzwamagyi () # Ngazi Shin () # Aung Pinle Hsinbyushin () # Taungmagyi () # Maungminshin () # Shindaw () # Nyaunggyin () # Tabinshwehti () # Minye Aungdin () # Shwe Sitthin () # Medaw Shwezaga () # Maung Po Tu () # Yun Bayin () # Maung Minbyu () # Mandalay Bodaw () # Shwe Hpyin Naungdaw (‌) # Shwe Hpyin Nyidaw () # Mintha Maungshin () # Htibyuhsaung () # Htibyuhsaung Medaw () # Pareinma Shin Mingaung () # Min Sithu () # Min Kyawzwa () # Myaukhpet Shinma () # Anauk Mibaya () #

Shingon is one of the major schools of Buddhism in Japan and one of the few surviving Vajrayana lineages in East Asian Buddhism. It is a form of Japanese Esoteric Buddhism and is sometimes called "Tōmitsu" (東密 lit. "Esoteric uddhismof Tō- ...

() # Shingwa () # Shin Nemi ()

References

* 'King Mae Ku: From Lan Na Monarch to Burmese Nat', in: Forbes, Andrew, and Henley, David, ''Ancient Chiang Mai'' Volume 1. Chiang Mai, Cognoscenti Books, 2012. * * * * Hla Tha Mein

External links

*
Nat belief and Buddhism
Photo essay by Claudia Wiens
The Nats - Online Burma/Myanmar Library

Preview of a documentary film by Lindsey Merrison
Nat Dance

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Mintha Theater
Dance theater in Mandalay, Burma.
Spirit of Burma 2006

Nat Pwè recordings

Windows on Asia,

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Myanmar Cyclone Brings Rise in Centuries-Old 'Nat' Worship
''

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'', June 30, 2008, video and photo slideshows
Festival brings noise and colour to Taungbyone
Zaw Win Than, ''

The Myanmar Times ''The Myanmar Times'' ( ), founded in 2000, is the oldest privately owned and operated English-language newspaper in Myanmar. A division of Myanmar Consolidated Media Co., Ltd. (MCM), ''The Myanmar Times'' published weekly English and Burmese-lan ...

'' Vol. 22 No. 430, August 4–10, 2008
Myanmar Nat Pwe in Bago

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photos by Boonlong1
My House Nat Can Whip Your House Nat
Ethan Todras-Whitehill, ''Student Traveler'', 2006-11-24 * An account of the Taungbyone 2010 nat pwe spirit festival at Arcane Cand
Part 1
an
Part 2

Myanmar's River of Spirits
Kira Salak, ''

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