The Burmese nats: Between Sovereignty and Autochthony

Diogenes

Volumn 44, Issue 174, 1996, Pages 45-60

  De La Perrière, Béndéictine Brac ^a  

^a NONE

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EID: 34247685376     PISSN: 03921921     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/039219219604417404     Document Type: Article

References (10)

1. This legend is well-known to the mediums. It also told by the Burmese folklorist A. Htin in: Folk Elements in Burmese Buddhism, Rangoon, 1975, p. 74. What is interesting about it is the link it establishes between the origin of the cult and the establishment of the Burmese monarchy. However, the actual attribution of the foundation of this cult to Anawratha must be approached with caution: it corresponds to the "necessity" of portraying the first Burmese king to have conquered the Irrawaddy valley as the founder par excellence
2. See E.M. Mendelson, "L'utilisation du scepticisme religieux dans la Birmanie d'aujourdhui," Diogenes, No. 41 (1963)
3. see also H.L. Shorto, "The Dewatau Sotapan: a Mon Prototype of the 37 Nats," in: B.S.O.A.S., Vol. 30, No. 1 (1967), pp. 127-41
4. See also the history of Grandfather Alon that I recounted in Les Rituels de possession en birmanie, Paris, 1989
5. Anawratha was killed on the horns of a wild buffalo which was the incarnation of a spirit whom Anawratha had castrated using Thi'dja's scepter
6. Quoted in S.J. Tambiah, World Conqueror and World Renoancer. A Study of Buddhism and Polity against a Historical Background, Cambridge 1976, p. 73
7. See also F.E. Reynolds, "The Holy Emerald Jewel: Some Aspects of Buddhist Symbolism and Political Legitimation in Thailand," in: B.L. Smith (ed.), Religion and Legitimation of Power in Thailand, Laos, and Burma, Chambersburg, 1978, pp. 175-93
8. G. Coedes presents a version of this legend in his "Documents sur l'histoire politique et religieuse du Laos occidental," in: BEFEO, Vol. 25 (1925), pp. 287-96. According to this version, which is based on an excerpt from the Thai chronicle called the Jinkalami, the Emerald Buddha (of Sinhalese origin), along with the group of texts comprising the canon of Thervadan Buddhism, was given to Anawratha in the eleventh century. On the return voyage, the ship carrying the statue, along with some of the texts, lost its way in a storm and finally reached land not far from Angkor. Later, Anawratha is reported to have come to Angkor in search of the missing texts but supposedly "forgot" the jewel. The Burmese Chronicle does not mention this incident, asserting instead that these were obtained by the Pagan from the Mon people of Lower Burma, rivals of the Pagan
9. H. Maspéro, he taoïsme et les religions chinoises, Paris, 1971, pp. 244-53
10. See B. Formoso in this issue; also Ch. Archaimbault, he Sacrifice du buffle à S'iang Khwang (Laos), Paris, 1991