Lone Rider
Blokes Who Can
The Kachin Manaw Festival on 4 and 5 December 2012
Early morning off to Ban Mai Samakki to see the Kachin Manaw festival which is held once every two years by the Kachin living in the north of Thailand. My informant mentioned that it would start somewhere between 8 and 9 o'clock but before the opening there would already quite a bit going on.
First a bit on the Kachins and the Kachin State:
The Jingpho people or Kachin people are an ethnic group who largely inhabit the Kachin Hills in northern Burma's Kachin State and neighbouring areas of China and India. The Jingpho form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China, where they numbered 132,143 people in the 2000 census. The Singpho constitute the same ethnic identity, albeit living in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, an area also controversially claimed by China. The Jingpho people are an ethnic affinity of several tribal groups, known for their fierce independence, disciplined fighting skills, complex clan inter-relations, embrace of Christianity, craftsmanship, herbal healing and jungle survival skills.
Kachin State; (Kachin: Jingphaw Mungdaw), is the northernmost state of Burma. It is bordered by China to the north and east; Shan State to the south; and Sagaing Division and India to the west. The capital of the state is Myitkyina. Kachin State has Myanmar's highest mountain, Hkakabo Razi (5,889 metres or 19,321 ft)), forming the southern tip of the Himalayas, and a large inland lake, Indawgyi Lake.
The Kachin Manaw Festival is a celebration of a combination of New Year, Victories in battles and a reunion of the tribes etc. All the Kachin clans congregate at Myitkyina to celebrate this Manaw Festival which is one of the most popular festivals in Myanmar. The festival is usually held in January. Everybody in town joins the spiritual dance lined up behind one another.
The traditional Manaw poles are decorated in colourful Kachin motifs and are centered in the middle of the festival ground. All who come to the festival wear their best traditional costume and the main feature of the festival is dancing around the erected Manaw poles, quite similar to the totem poles of North American Indians. (Source: Kachin Manaw Festival | Myanmar Life)
The Manaw Poles on the grounds where the festival is held
Registration of the participants and wooden swords for sale
Some of the organizers
The younger generation
The traditional band
Proud to be a Kachin
There were quite some army personnel present on the grounds and guarding the entrances to the grounds
Last minute preparations and waiting for the arrival of the official guests
Arrival of the district governor
The opening ceremony
Almost ready to start the dance
And finally the fun starts
This was the first part of the first day - tomorrow the festivities continue but, as these are in relation to the Kings birthday, I don't know what will be on the program. Ban Mai Samakki is about a 2 hour drive north of Chiangmai and is located a bit south-west of Arunothai - Coordinates: N19 43.544 E98 57.155
Will try to upload a few short movies once I have figured out how to do that (this was my first attempt to shoot some movies and something went wrong - the movie is in slow motion but the sound is at normal speed so some fiddling around to do).
Here is the first short movie taken with my phone (apologies for the bad quality):
Early morning off to Ban Mai Samakki to see the Kachin Manaw festival which is held once every two years by the Kachin living in the north of Thailand. My informant mentioned that it would start somewhere between 8 and 9 o'clock but before the opening there would already quite a bit going on.
First a bit on the Kachins and the Kachin State:
The Jingpho people or Kachin people are an ethnic group who largely inhabit the Kachin Hills in northern Burma's Kachin State and neighbouring areas of China and India. The Jingpho form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China, where they numbered 132,143 people in the 2000 census. The Singpho constitute the same ethnic identity, albeit living in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, an area also controversially claimed by China. The Jingpho people are an ethnic affinity of several tribal groups, known for their fierce independence, disciplined fighting skills, complex clan inter-relations, embrace of Christianity, craftsmanship, herbal healing and jungle survival skills.
Kachin State; (Kachin: Jingphaw Mungdaw), is the northernmost state of Burma. It is bordered by China to the north and east; Shan State to the south; and Sagaing Division and India to the west. The capital of the state is Myitkyina. Kachin State has Myanmar's highest mountain, Hkakabo Razi (5,889 metres or 19,321 ft)), forming the southern tip of the Himalayas, and a large inland lake, Indawgyi Lake.
The Kachin Manaw Festival is a celebration of a combination of New Year, Victories in battles and a reunion of the tribes etc. All the Kachin clans congregate at Myitkyina to celebrate this Manaw Festival which is one of the most popular festivals in Myanmar. The festival is usually held in January. Everybody in town joins the spiritual dance lined up behind one another.
The traditional Manaw poles are decorated in colourful Kachin motifs and are centered in the middle of the festival ground. All who come to the festival wear their best traditional costume and the main feature of the festival is dancing around the erected Manaw poles, quite similar to the totem poles of North American Indians. (Source: Kachin Manaw Festival | Myanmar Life)
The Manaw Poles on the grounds where the festival is held
Registration of the participants and wooden swords for sale
Some of the organizers
The younger generation
The traditional band
Proud to be a Kachin
There were quite some army personnel present on the grounds and guarding the entrances to the grounds
Last minute preparations and waiting for the arrival of the official guests
Arrival of the district governor
The opening ceremony
Almost ready to start the dance
And finally the fun starts
This was the first part of the first day - tomorrow the festivities continue but, as these are in relation to the Kings birthday, I don't know what will be on the program. Ban Mai Samakki is about a 2 hour drive north of Chiangmai and is located a bit south-west of Arunothai - Coordinates: N19 43.544 E98 57.155
Will try to upload a few short movies once I have figured out how to do that (this was my first attempt to shoot some movies and something went wrong - the movie is in slow motion but the sound is at normal speed so some fiddling around to do).
Here is the first short movie taken with my phone (apologies for the bad quality):
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