Special Interest Tour
Myanmar Art and Craft

Study to Traditional Arts of Myanmar
Myanmar has a culture of great tradition more than 15 centuries. The three performing arts, music, dance and drama are the inseparable companions. Arts have been closely intertwined with religion and royalty in Burma history. Temples, pagodas and palaces displayed the artistic skills of painters, wood carvers and sculptures. Temples and pagodas were traditionally built of brick and many are still standing. Myanmar's handicrafts are interested and attractive. Lacquer ware, hand woven textiles, embroidery, woodcarving and silverwork are all good value. The exquisite masterpieces of Myanmar craftsmen and the amazing number of pagoda which are scattered all over the country are more than enough to tempt a visitor to stay in Myanmar. Myanmar’s arts and crafts come in a dazzling variety. Traditional ways in this country and for visitors from the industrialized world, these expressions of folk artists can be a never end source of delight. In the markets, pagoda alleyways and bustling bazaars are Mandalay marionettes, hand made statues and figurines, gleaming Buddha’s of cast bronze, and marble sculptures. Gold leaf is made the way it has been for centuries. Apart from the religious artifacts, also find the multi-layered and finely crafted lacquer ware from Bagan, as well as the distinctive red and black varieties from the Shan states. Ancient opium weights, woven rattan baskets, temple bells, gongs and bronze figurines, Hand loomed silk, textiles both new and old are equally good finds. The largest repository of Myanmar arts and crafts can be found in Mandalay. Lovers of arts and crafts will certainly enjoy them. It is here that visitors can observe skilled craftsmen make beautiful articles of ivory, wood, marble and stone, silverware and bronze statues, world famous tapestry, silk weaving and gold-leaf making according to the time-honored traditions of their fore-fathers.

Traditional Architecture
Traditional temple architecture brings together all the pan she myo ( ten types of flower), the traditional Burmese arts schemata. It is in architecture that one sees the strongest evidence of Burmese artistic skill and accomplishment. Myanmar is a country of stupas, called ‘pagodas’ in English. For the most part it’s a generic term for what students of Hindu-Buddhist architecture call a stupa. There are basically two kinds of paya: the solid, bell-shaped zedi and the hollow square or rectangular pahto. Mon-style pahto is a large cube with small windows and groung-level passageways; this type is also known as a ku or gu (from the Pali-Sanskrit guha, or cave). In later Bagan structures, indoor passages led to outside terraces on several levels, a style usually ascribed to the Bamar rather than the Mon. The overall Bamar concept is similar to that of the Mayan and Aztec pyramids of Mesoamerica; both architectural styles are designed so that worshippers climb a symbolic mountain while viewing religious reliefs and frescoes along the way. Burmese term for all these structures is paya. The famous Mon zedi in Yangon is called Shwedagon Paya, and Bagan’s greatest pahto is known as Ananda Paya. Style is not always a good indicator of a zedi’s original age since Myanmar is earthquake-prone and many have been rebuilt over and again, gradually changing their design through the centuries. One thing many zedis seem to have in quantity is an air of tranquility. Even when it’s noisy around a zedi, when some sort of festival or ceremony is going on, the atmosphere is still charged with that tranquil magic that seems to pervade everything around it. Around the base, people are meditating, strolling around, or simply chatting. Zedis have a warmth: an easygoing feeling of friendliness that is quite unmatched by any other religious building. Other Buildings Traditionally, only the zedi, gu and pahto have been made of permanent materials; until quite recently all secular buildings - and most monasteries were constructed of wood and thus there are few old wooden buildings to be seen. Even the great palaces were made of wood and with the destruction of Mandalay Palace during WW II there is no remaining wooden Burmese palace. Although so little remains of the old wooden architectural skills, there are still many excellent wooden buildings to be seen. The Burmese continue to use teak with great skill, and a fine country home can be a very pleasing structure indeed. Buildings erected during the British colonial period feature a variety of styles and materials, from the rustic wood-and-plaster Tudor villas of Pyin U Lwin to the thick-walled, brick-and-plaster, colonnaded mansions and shophouses of Yangon, Mawlamyaing and Myeik. Much of the ornamentation found on these old colonial dames was inspired by local architecture.

****We would like to say that we are very proud of our own cultures and traditions so that a special programs for "Study to Traditional Arts of Myanmar sectors was born with very attractive Itineraries and destinations. ****

Please check here our classical arts and other skillful hand working

• Ten Flowers
• The Art of Weaving
• The Art of Making Pottery