NOVITIATION CEREMONY
TRADITION
It is the most important duty and wishes of all Burmese parents to make sure their sons are admitted to the Buddhist Monkhood Sangha by performing a Shin Pyu Nirvada (Novitiation) ceremony at least once they have reached the age of seven or older. For a Burmese Buddhist male, it is important for him to be a (monk) novice for a certain period in his life as this will enable him to gain Karma (Merit). Since only boys can have Novitiation, parents used to be proud to have sons. Novitiation ceremony can be celebrated once the boys they have reached the age of seven or older. Novice is the first step to become a monk later when they reaches adulthood .
Usually, the boy who is around the age of 10 years will join The Order as a novice. There is no fixed age for entering the order as a novice, but he must be under the age of 19 years and 3 months. (In Buddhism, a person becomes alive at conception, so at 19 years and 3 months, he will be 20 years old). He will usually stay in The Order as a novice for a few weeks. (Usually a week to a month, but may be more). He will learn basic principles, morals and religious teachings that are essential in becoming a good Buddhist.
As this is a very important occasion for him and his family, the parents usually celebrate the event in an extravagant manner. They save money for a long time for that special occasion and spend as much as they afford. Usually celebrated during school holidays or after the harvest when they get money from the sale of crops. The boy is dressed in princely outfits of silk and wears a gold headdress. He is then carried around the town on a white horse or in a car or modified tractor vehicle “trawlergyi” nowadays in a grand procession with the parents, relatives and friends following along in a grand procession. Musicians are hired to entertain guests. Not all families can afford this extravagantce however, and many Shin Pyus are more modest.
At the monastery, his hair is shaved and begins the ceremony of becoming the novice begins. After the ceremony, he becomes a proud member of the Holy Order of Sangha. Usually “soon” meals are offered to the monks and all the guests are also served with meals.
SHOOTING
The rituals are a bit different from region to region. In those suburban areas, the novices ride on horses / elephants with all the trimmings of folk music troupes and processions. However, in Rangoon (Yangon), horses are not allowed on the roads. So, people rather use Hilux or Jeeps for those processions. So, I am sharing two different processions here. The one at suburban (Kwan Chan Gone township) and also the one at Yangon (Shwedagon Pagoda).
In far flung areas like Kwan Chan Gone, people utilize plotting tractors (trawlergyi) as transporter for grand processions…
The novice is privileged to ride on the Horse, blessed with shade of Golden Umbrella and surrounded by Collaborators, all of which frame the symbols of Royal Family…
Beautiful and attractive ladies in the village take the role of carrying the betel-caskets and lead the grand procession… (in Burmese, we call these ladies KWAN TAUNG KAI)…
A grand procession on SHWEDAGON PAGODA of Yangon…
At least once in a boy’s life, he walks under GOLDEN UMBRELLA and yes, that’s his novitiation…
The to-be novice guy has his hair shaven off and the parents hold the towel collecting the gracious falling hair…
The to-be novice need to request the yellow robes in Pali from the monk…
ကိုရဲလြင္ ဓါတ္ပံုေတြ ရိုက္ျဖစ္တာ ၊ ပံုေတြ ေကာင္းတာ…။ Bravo!