The traditional Kachin two-day Thanksgiving celebration, featuring the Manau dance festival, will begin tomorrow in Manmaw Township, in Burma’s Northern Kachin State, ...
This is the third time the Kachin people in Manmaw have been authorized by the military authorities to celebrate Thanksgiving with the traditional Manau dance festival. The first festival was held in 1996, and the second in 2009.
The Thanksgiving celebration, called “Nlung N’nan Sha Sut Manau Poi” in Kachin, will be held at the Kachin Culture and Literature Venue in Awng Ta quarter, in Manmaw, also called Bhamo, the second largest city in Kachin State.
Hundreds of local people and invited guests, including several dozen Kachins from neighbouring China’s, Yunnan province, will join the festival, according to a festival official.
A Kachin Christian traditional prayer service will be held at the venue before the festival begins tomorrow morning, organizers added.
They said the participants will dance the “Sut Manau”- which means dancing for blessings (wealth), for two straight days.
An official said there are no restrictions on the event by the authorities so far, but the traditional Kachin Manau Pole must be taken down after the event.
The Burmese military has banned construction of Manau Poles and cultural buildings with concrete, in Manmaw district.
During last year’s Thanksgiving celebration, the Burmese military destroyed the circular Manau dance field with a bulldozer, soon after it was paved with sand and lime stone, on November 12. The military authorities shortened the festival period to three days from four days.
Members of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), led by Vice chairman Lt-Gen N’ban La Awng, joined the Manmaw Thanksgiving celebration last year. However, KIO officers will not join this year’s celebration, according to festival officials.
All KIO members have been banned from entering the areas controlled by the Burmese military since September 1, because the KIO rejected the surrender proposal presented by the junta.
