Bamar people

Traditional dress

The Bamar traditionally wore sarongs. Women wear a type of sarong known as htamain (ထဘီ), while men wear a sarong sewn into a tube, called a longyi(လုံချည်),^[9] or, more formally, a single long piece wrapped around the hips, known in Burmese as a paso (ပုဆိုး). Formal attire often consists of gold jewelry, silk scarves, and jackets. On formal occasions, men often wear cloth turbans called gaung baung (ခေါင်းပေါင်း) and Mandarin collared jackets called taikpon (တိုက်ပုံ), while women wear blouses.

Both genders wear velvet sandals called gadiba phanat (ကတ္တီပါဖိနပ်‌, also called Mandalay phanat), although leather, rubber and plastic sandals (ဂျပန်ဖိနပ်‌, lit. Japanese shoes) are also worn. In cities and urban areas, Western dress, including T-shirts, jeans and sports shoes or trainers, has become popular, especially among the younger generation.^[9] Talismanic tattoos, earrings, and long hair tied in a knot were once common among Bamar men, but have ceased to be fashionable since after World War II; men in shorts and sporting ponytails, as well as both sexes with bleached hair, have made their appearance in Yangon and Mandalay more recently, especially in the anything-goes atmosphere of the Burmese New Year holiday known as Thingyan.

Westernization mostly comes via Japan and Singapore. Bamar people of both sexes and all ages also wear thanaka, especially on their faces, although the practice is largely confined to women, children and young, unmarried men. Western makeup and cosmetics have long enjoyed a popularity in urban areas.^[9] However, thanaka is not exclusively worn by the Bamar, as many other ethnic groups throughout Burma utilize this cosmetic.

Cuisine

Bamar cuisine contains many regional elements, such as stir frying techniques and curries which can be hot but lightly spiced otherwise, almost always with fish paste as well as onions, garlic, ginger, dried chili and turmeric. Rice (ထမင်း htamin) is the staple, although noodles (ခေါက်ဆွဲ hkauk swè), salads (အသုတ် a thouk), and breads (ပေါင်မုန့် paung mont) are also eaten. Green tea is often the beverage of choice, but tea is also traditionally pickled and eaten as a salad called lahpet. The best-known dish of Bamar origin is mohinga, rice noodles in a fish broth. It is available in most parts of the region, also considered as the national dish of Myanmar.^[10] Dishes from other ethnic minorities such as the Shah, Chinese, and Indian, are also consumed.

Music

Traditional music of Myanmar consists of an orchestra mainly of percussion and wind instruments but the saung gauk (စောင်းကောက်), a boat-shaped harp, is often symbolic of the Bamar. Other traditional instruments include pattala (Burmese xylophone), walatkhok, lagwin, and hsaingwaing. Modern Bamar music is typically westernized, with influences particularly from American country music. However, rap and hip-hop have also gained popularity. Traditional Bamar dancing is similar to Thai dancing. Puppetry is also a popular form of entertainment and is often performed at pwés, which is a generic term for shows, celebrations and festivals. In urban areas, movies from both Bollywood and Hollywood have long been popular, but more recently Korean and Chinese films, especially DVDs, have become increasingly popular.

Festivals

Buddhist festivals and holidays are widely celebrated by the Bamar people. Thingyan, the Water Festival, which marks the beginning of the Burmese New Year in April, is one such example.^[11] Thadingyut, which marks the end of the Buddhist lent, is celebrated with the Festival of Lights in October. Kathina or robe offering ceremony for monks is held at the start of Lent in July and again in November.

Religion

A nat ein in Downtown Yangon

The majority of the Bamar are Theravada Buddhists. People are expected to keep the basic Five Precepts and practise dāna "charity", sīla "Buddhist ethics" and vipassanā "meditation". Most villages have a monastery and often a stupa maintained and supported by the villagers. Annual pagoda festivals usually fall on a full moon, and robe offering ceremonies for bhikkhus are held both at the beginning and after the Vassa. This coincides with the monsoons, during which the uposatha is generally observed once a week.

Children were educated by monks before secular state schools came into being. A shinbyu ceremony by which young boys become novice monks for a short period is considered the most important duty of Buddhist parents. Christian missionaries had made little impact on the Bamar despite the popularity of missionary schools in cities.

The Bamar practise Buddhism along with nat worship which predated Buddhism. It involves rituals relating to a pantheon of 37 Nats or spirits designated by King Anawrahta, although many minor nats are also worshipped. In villages, many houses have outdoors altars to honor nats, called nat ein (နတ်အိမ်‌), in addition to one outside the village known as nat sin (နတ်စင်‌) often under a bo tree (Ficus religiosa). Indoors in many households, one may find a coconut called nat oun up the main post for the Eindwin Min Mahagiri (အိမ်တွင်းမင်းမဟာဂိရိ; lit. "Indoor Lord of the Great Mountain"), considered one of the most important of the Nats.

The term "Bamar" is sometimes used to refer to both the practice of Buddhism as well as the ethnic identity. Bamar Muslims, however, practice Islam and claim ethnic Bamar heritage and culture in all matters other than religion.^[12]

Naming

In the past, the Bamar typically had shorter names, usually limited to one or two syllables. However, the trend of adopting longer names (four or five for females and three for males) has become popular. Bamar names also frequently make use of Pali-derived loan words. Bamar people typically use the day of birth (traditional 8-day calendar, which includes Yahu, Wednesday afternoon) as the basis for naming, although this practice is not universal.^[13] Letters from groups within the Burmese alphabet are designated to certain days, from which the Bamar choose names.^[14]

They are chosen as follows: