Our Historical Burma tour takes us to Mandalay-the last capital
of the Myanmar King Thibaw. Mandalay is renowned for its
skillful artisans that produce beautiful tapestries, silk and
cotton weaving, hand carved silver, gold-leaf producers, and
marionettes.
As the sunsets across Mandalay we will observe from Mandalay
Hill the Ayarwaddy River as she carves her niche through the
beautiful landscape-providing transportation and commercial
routes for water vessels, as well as supplying fish, or nga, a
staple for the Burmese.
Tamarind has chosen Bagan as part of our Historical Burma
program because of its historical, religious and architectural
significance. The awe inspiring ancient temples that dot the
Bagan skyline make this magical wonderland one of the most
photogenic landscapes in Asia. Additionally Bagan is renowned
for its lacquerware-each lacquerware piece is handmade with thin
bamboo strips that are painstakingly melded together. A
lacquerware piece from Bagan can take months to produce, and
would certainly add to the décor of any home. In Bagan you will
observe the process of making lacquerware by traditional methods
that have been unchanged for decades.
Traditionally Burmese women wear a wrap-around nether
garment called Htamein and a jacket. One unique feature of
Burmese women is wearing Thanakhar – a pasty make-up
obtained by grinding the bark of the Thanakhar plant with
water on a circular slab of stone. It is the secret of
Burmese women’s smooth and youth skin.
Our tradition, Burmese women show deference to their
husbands, regarding them as “gods of the front part of the
house”. The implication may be that they look upon
themselves as “goddesses of the rear part” The conventional
saying is men are bread-winners and women are home-makers.
The roles are reversed sometimes and nowadays when woman
take parts the position of a rice-winning wife!
Most Burmese women are religious. Their day starts with
offering alms-food, water, flowers, lights and incense to
the Buddha Image at their home alter.
The five traditional duties of a Burmese women are to do
household chores, to keep away things securely, to be
faithful to her husband, to share what she can with her
husbands’s relations and her own and to work hard. You may
like to know what are her husband’s. Here it is – to be free
from disregard towards her, to place his earnings to manage
for family living, to abstain from having affairs with other
women, to be kind and loving to her. It can be regarded like
an old fashioned though, it offers us a mutual respect,
support morally each other, enjoy rights and freedoms
equally. The ethics is a heritage from our great
grandparents.
