Gadaw
Gadaw(Burmese:ကန်တော့,IPA:[ɡədɔ̰];also speltkadaw) is aBurmese verbreferring to aBurmesetradition in which a person, always of lower social standing, pays respect orhomageto a person of higher standing (including Buddhist monks, elders, teachers and Buddha), by kneeling before them and paying obeisance with joined hands, andbowing.[1]This is usually done by students to theirteachersor children or grandchildren to their elders (parents, aunts, uncles and grandparents), in order to show gratitude and reverence and an opportunity to ask for forgiveness, often involving gift-giving.
It is traditionally done on New Year's Day ofThingyanand during the month ofThadingyut(roughly October), which marks the end ofVassa,the Buddhist lent.[2][3]
The tradition is widely believed to have Buddhist roots, as teachers and parents (မိဘ၊ ဆရာသမား) are honored as part of the Five Infinite Venerables (အနန္တငါးပါး), along with theThree Jewels,namely the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha.[4]Moreover, theMangala Sutta,the source of the 38 Buddhist Beatitudes, describes the importance of "honoring those worthy of honor" (ပူဇာ စ ပူဇနေယျနာနံ၊,pujā ca pujāneyyanānam) and lists respect, humbleness, gratitude and as among the highest blessings. Obeisance ceremonies are also held for neighborhood elders, and professional mentors, such as writers and actors.[5]
The collectivegadawof teachers is called ahsaya gadaw pwe(ဆရာကန်တော့ပွဲ) or more formallyacariya puja pweorasariya puzaw pwe(အာစရိယပူဇော်ပွဲ), usually done formally during the month of Thadingyut (orWorld Teachers' Dayon 5 October) by students or alumni at schools and universities throughout the country.[6][1]
During the time of the Burmese monarchy, a ritualizedgadawceremony called thegadaw pwedaw(ကန်တော့ပွဲတော်) was practised at least three times a year at the royal palace, by tributary chieftains and rulers as well as subjects to the king, as a symbolic form ofallegiance.[7][8]Gadaw nay(ကန်တော့နေ့) was one such time, occurring at the end of the Buddhist lent, and when tributes and gifts are formally offered to the king.[9]
The traditional Burmese request of the Three Jewels (Triple Gem), a formulaic prayer (termedOkāsaor the "Buddhist common prayer" byPe Maung Tin) that precedes most Buddhist ceremonies, explicitly references thegadawof the Five Infinite Venerables (Buddha, Dhamma, Sangha, parents and teachers):[10]
ဩကာသ ၊ ဩကာသ ၊ ဩကာသ။ |
I request! I request! I request! |
A more ritualized form called thewai khruis found in neighboring Thailand. A similar tradition, calleddam huais practiced in the Lanna region ofNorthern Thailand,especially duringSongkran,the Thai new year.[11]
See also
[edit]
References
[edit]- ^abSeekins, Donald M. (2017-03-27).Historical Dictionary of Burma (Myanmar).Rowman & Littlefield. p. 287.ISBN978-1-5381-0183-4.
- ^Moe Moe Oo; Moh Moh Thaw (17 October 2005)."Paper lanterns and coloured lights: Thadingyut celebrations are again upon us".Myanmar Times.Archived fromthe originalon July 8, 2007.Retrieved31 October2012.
- ^http:// myanmar.gov.mm/Perspective/persp1997/11-97/eld11-97.htm[permanent dead link]
- ^Cherry Thein (12 October 2009)."Thadingyut, a time to honour teachers".Myanmar Times.Archived fromthe originalon 26 March 2012.Retrieved31 October2012.
- ^Ma Thanegi (February 2014)."Customs, Ceremonies and Festivals"(PDF).My Magical Myanmar.Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 4 March 2016.Retrieved19 July2015.
- ^http:// myanmar.gov.mm/Article/Article2004/Oct04/Oct05.htm[permanent dead link]
- ^Cyril Henry Philips, ed. (1951).Handbook of oriental history.Vol. 6. University of London School of Oriental and African Studies. p. 121.
- ^Seekins, Donald M. (2017-03-27).Historical Dictionary of Burma (Myanmar).Rowman & Littlefield. p. 287.ISBN978-1-5381-0183-4.
- ^Scott, James George(1882).The Burman, His Life and Notions(PDF).p. 102.ISBN978-1-115-23195-4.Retrieved2010-09-19.
- ^Spiro, Melford (1982).Buddhism and society: a great tradition and its Burmese vicissitudes.University of California Press. p. 210.ISBN0-520-04672-2.
- ^Delaney, William Phillip (1977).Socio-Cultural Aspects of Aging in Buddhist Northern Thailand(PDF)(Ph.D thesis). Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. p. 156. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2011-07-23.Retrieved2010-09-19.