An Ethnoarchaeology Study of Water Rituals at Bagan, Myanmar

Summary

This is an abstract from the "The Current State of Archaeological Research across Southeast Asia" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Water is an element which characterizes and links Southeast Asia, however, due to the difficulties of understanding its religious significance within the archaeological record, few studies have examined its symbolic meaning. As part of this ethnoarchaeology study, interviews and observations conducted in ten traditional villages near Bagan were aimed at requesting participants to describe the festivals, healing rituals, and ceremonies in which water has a prominent role. The results indicate that the symbolic use of water was directed towards increasing protection, healing, purifying (or exorcising), renewing, and linking individuals with one another and with supernatural beings. Within the performance of certain water rituals, in particular rain-calling ceremonies, aspects such as by whom, when, and where this ceremony was performed showed greater variability. This is possibly linked to the soil, weather, crop cultivation, and water accessibility variations across villages which have led to diverse water needs. Observation of shrines, offerings, and the material culture used to provide water offerings indicate that the properties attached to water had little relation to the nature of water vessels, and rather depended on the properties infused to it by the power of the Buddhist texts, and the morality of the reader of such texts.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)   •
• The Current State of Archaeological Research across Southeast Asia

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 23198