Manau
Another important part of the research has been a long-term study of the manau festival. This page gives details of a wide variety of manau festivals for comparison.
Photographs of Mahtum Manau, 1992
Photographs, audio and video recordings by courtesy of Pungga Ja Li.
These photographs are of an extremely rare event - a manau at which a full schedule of ritual performances and offerings were carried out. The materials were recorded in 1992 in the Triangle region of Kachin State, in an area under the control of the KIA. When Pungga Ja Li, Hkanhpa Sadan and I started work preserving and annotating these materials in 1996-9, they were in an extremely deteriorated and vulnerable condition. The images include some rarely seen events, such as the interior offering of the Madai buffalo at the Madai hkungri inside the host's house. This has only previously been described textually (Carrapiett, The Kachin Tribes of Burma, 1929), but there are no other known images of the offering.
These photographs are of an extremely rare event - a manau at which a full schedule of ritual performances and offerings were carried out. The materials were recorded in 1992 in the Triangle region of Kachin State, in an area under the control of the KIA. When Pungga Ja Li, Hkanhpa Sadan and I started work preserving and annotating these materials in 1996-9, they were in an extremely deteriorated and vulnerable condition. The images include some rarely seen events, such as the interior offering of the Madai buffalo at the Madai hkungri inside the host's house. This has only previously been described textually (Carrapiett, The Kachin Tribes of Burma, 1929), but there are no other known images of the offering.
Audio documentation
The following recording of Naura Majai, the offering made to purify the dancing arena or naura, can be seen in photograph PJL/M1-20. It is an important recitation because it contains details of the manau genealogy of the host and their right to hold the festival and make the associated offerings.
In addition to the audio recording, a transcript of the recitation in Jinghpaw is also included and a copy of the raw translation into English that we worked upon, but which has not yet been written up fully.
In addition to the audio recording, a transcript of the recitation in Jinghpaw is also included and a copy of the raw translation into English that we worked upon, but which has not yet been written up fully.
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Video documentation of Mahtum Manau, 1992 - Part OneThe following very rare footage was taken by the Yup Uplift Committee in 1992 under the supervision of Pungga Ja Li.
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Video documentation of Mahtum Manau, 1992 - Part Two
The footage continues, with extremely rare images of the interior shrine to the Madai nat. ( A longer video will be uploaded shortly.)
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Historical photographs related to the manau from the J. H. Green Collection, Brighton Museum & Art Gallery
These images from the James Henry Green Collection at Brighton Museum & Art Gallery represents one of the richest sources of visual historical data of manau and related festivals in the early decades of the twentieth century. Included in the collection is a series of images from a manau festival held at Namhkyek in the northern Shan States in the 1920s. (Captions will follow shortly.)
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The Singpho Shapawng Yawng Manau Poi, India 1985-2009(Photographs in the collection of Kadung Nong)
The Shapawng Yawng Manau Poi in India started in 1984 in its modern form. Further details about this can be found in Chapter 9 of the book. Here, a selection of images from the various festivals have been put together, courtesy of Gudung Nong. The images collectively suggest many interpretations. However, in relation to the arguments presented in Being and Becoming Kachin, the increasing elaboration in post design over this period is most marked. It is also noticeable in these images that there appears to be more interaction with Kachin ethno-nationalists from Burma and beyond from 2005 onwards, resulting in more elaborate and eventually even in huge concrete posts. This reflects the possibilities of interaction following the 1994 ceasefire and attempts to build political and economic bridges between India and Burma, the changing situation in the domestic politics of northeast India and the influence of Kachin ethno-nationalists from Burma and elsewhere.
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Lachik Jhang: Kham: Zoem Goo', Myitkyina, 1998
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Lawngwaw Zham Gow, Lashio, 1997
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