Nat Pwe: Burma's Carnival of Spirit Soul

In Burma, many people believe in ghost spirits called NATs. They are said to possess the power to assist or devastate the lives of those who recognize them. A PWE is a ceremony held to appease a Nat.
Pwes are arranged daily throughout Burma for many purposes including the achievement of success in business, a happy marriage, or improving one's health. A Nat is summoned through a Kadaw; the flamboyant and charismatic master of the Pwe dressed in elegant costume. The Kadaw is a spirit medium, dancer, storyteller, and magician who exposes the crowd to a living incarnation of the Nat brought forth through opening ritual and careful observance of tradition.
Many of the Kadaws are male crossdressers performing the role of female Nats. Audience participants are often ecstatic, spontaneously launching into trance as the Nat spirit possesses their bodies while the melodically ornamental and thundering sound of the Nat Pwe orchestra plays on as perhaps the last, great unknown musical juggernaut existing anywhere.
Since the 11th century, there have been 37 officially recognized Nats and every August, in the village of Taungbyon, there is a festival dedicated to two of them. This festival is one of the greatest spectacles on earth. At the peak of the Taungbyon celebration, there exists a vibe of mysterious, electric charm. What results is the magnetic, unexplainable concoction of conservative tradition, free expression, music, dance, spirit possession, and anomalous synchronicities of Burma's Carnival of Spirit Soul
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[@gordonliu3972]

Incredible! Thanks for posting. I want to go.

[@seafury9864]

Better than Woodstock

[@the_resident]

I miss Sublime Frequencies.

[@ကိုကို-ထ၅ခ]

My village traditional dance

[@Weijyun333]

1:16:43

[@htunmaung4508]

Thanks for post and Informations.

[@ArchiveofSoutheastAsianMusic]

Classic material!

[@yelu2972]

I want to watch about Maung min byu nat.

[@คนในความลับ-ฎ6ฟ]

Z

[@mdydawn]

thank u

[@kaungkhantkyaw8589]

တရုတ်ပြည်ဂန္ဓာရကို

[@andiamocucina]

Thanks for posting

[@moemoeswe-ong3947]

just culture in myanmar. it's not real religion. anyhow, thank you very much for your recording.

[@monsong00153]

[@robert3302]

+Moemoe Swe How is it not "real" religion?

[@zyerlinn]

Robert Coates ,It is traditional believe in spritual beings as a guardian of their luck.

[@bluesky-fu7dx]

Moemoe Swe ေ

[@robert3302]

What is religion, if not a traditional belief in spiritual beings?

[@AndrewChan84]

Not okay to have gays, but okay to have ceremonial drag queens, hehe.

[@ineedsleep1135]

I think it's just the cultural context. The burmese accepts that some men can be born girly and thus like guys and the same goes for the girls so they know the concept of transgender people. But that means that they are not familiar with the fact that men who act like the opinion of "masculinity" would have desire to love another "masculine" man instead of a woman. (The same goes for women but the focus is more on gay men). But the country is opening up and I think more and more people are aware.

[@corey725]

Gender roles, what's considered masculine and feminine. Also what the culture associates as acting 'gay' vary a lot in different cultures

[@toyotarchannel4922]

ေကာင္းးးး