page_title: Shinbyu
section_title: Ceremony
hierarchical_section_title: Shinbyu / Ceremony
caption_attribution_description: Burmese novitiate-to-be wearing white robes (signifying purity), prior to ordination as a samanera (novice monk)
context_page_description: Shinbyu is the Burmese term for a novitiation ceremony in the tradition of Theravada Buddhism, referring to the celebrations marking the sāmaṇera monastic ordination of a boy under the age of 20.
  It is deemed the most important duty that parents owe to their son by letting him go forth and embrace the legacy of Gautama Buddha, join the sangha and become immersed in the teachings of the Buddha, the Dhamma, at least for a short while, perhaps longer if not for the rest of his life. A boy may become a novice on more than one occasion, but by the age of twenty there will be another great occasion, the upasampada ordination, in which the boy becomes a fully ordained bhikkhu. Those who are not blessed with a male child will seek for an orphan boy or a boy from very poor families in order to receive this special dispensation by the Buddha and hence gain great merit by the act. Shinbyu may well be regarded as a rite of passage or coming of age ceremony as in other religions.
context_section_description: Festivals start on the eve of shinbyu called a-hlu win (အလှူဝင်) with a pwè (ပွဲ) an orchestra and dance/drama/comedy ensemble) and tea for the guests. In the middle of a street, a pandal or mandat (မဏ္ဍပ်) constructed from bamboo and papier-mâché with ornately painted gold and silver columns, pediments and finials has sprung up overnight. Sweets such as jaggery or cane sugar bars and a-hlu lahpet (အလှူလက်ဖက်), pickled tea laced with  sesame oil encircled by small heaps of fried peas, peanuts and garlic, toasted sesame, crushed dried shrimps and  shredded preserved ginger) are served with green tea. In towns and cities, assorted cakes, ice cream and coffee have superseded the traditional sweets but lahpet still holds centre stage.
  The big day starts early with a procession called the shinlaung hlè pwe (ရှင်လောင်းလှည့်ပွဲ) to the monastery, the young boy dressed in resplendent silks embroidered with gold as a royal prince or king, shielded from the sun by a gold umbrella and led on horseback by an orchestral band headed by a clown with a moustache called U Shwe Yoe holding a parasol and dancing merrily. This ritual symbolises Prince Siddhartha's departure from the royal palace with its sensuous pleasures and luxuries at the age of twenty nine, leaving his wife and newborn son  in search of the Four Noble Truths. Behind his horse follows the family, his proud parents carrying the monastic robes and other eight requisites, called pareihkara shippa (ပရိက္ခရာရှစ်ပါး) and his sisters or young village maidens carrying ceremonial boxes of paan (ကွမ်းတောင်ကိုင် kundaung gaing) and lotus blossoms (ပန်းတောင်ကိုင် pandaung gaing) all in their best silks with the rest of the joyous party completing the procession. The Shwedagon Pagoda is invariably a shinbyu procession's first port of call in  Yangon. The novice-to-be (ရှင်လောင်း shinlaung) may be the centre of attention, but his sister may at the same ceremony have an ear-piercing (နားထွင်း na htwin) with a gold needle, dressed up as a royal princess herself.
  At the monastery, the monks are assembled to preside over the ceremony and to receive their young charge as well as various alms and offerings. A feast has been prepared for all with low round tables set on fine bamboo mats and rugs or in a marquee with long bamboo tables and benches. It will have been declared a "smokeless day" (မီးခိုးတိတ် migo deik) for the village as no cooking fires will be lit and everyone including their dogs are welcome to the feast which includes meat and poultry dishes, soup or broth, curried salted fish with vegetables on the side, fermented green mango or bean sprouts followed by dessert, again with lahpet.
  A brahmin may be specially hired to act as master of ceremonies especially for a na htwin, but it is the monks who will supervise and perform the shaving of the head, called hsan cha (ဆံချ). The hair is received in a white cloth by the parents who kneeling together with the young shinlaung (ရှင်လောင်း), while the boy recites reflects on bodily defilements in Pali, to increase self-detachment from his hair. The boy, now having exchanged his princely garb with white robes, kneels before the Sayadaw and recites the Ten Precepts followed by the thingan daung (သင်္ကန်းတောင်း). He receives the saffron robe and is helped into this by a monk. Next he is given his alms bowl (သပိတ် thabeik) and palm-leaf fan (ယပ် yat) from his parents with smiles of joy and tears of sorrow, his mother at the thought of parting with her dear son for the first time.
caption: A boy donning white monastic robes before being ordained as a samanera (shin thamane)
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