Deputy Minister for Religious Affairs and Culture Daw Nu Mra Zan attended the public education campaign on Myanma Thanaka culture and traditions held at the National Museum (Yangon) yesterday morning, as the campaign is being carried out from 7 February to 31 March.

As part of the ‘Myanma Thanaka Day’ campaign, rare Myanmar Thanaka stone slabs and glass stands, as well as holographic fans, are displayed in the second-floor lobby of the National Museum (Yangon). Additionally, photos, videos, and songs related to Thanaka are being shown on a 62-inch TV. Deputy Minister Daw Nu Mra Zan, Director of the National Museum (Yangon) Daw Nan Laung Ngin, and other officials gave educational lectures to students from Mary Chapman School for the Deaf, private schools, and schools in the Yangon Region on the usefulness of Myanma Thanaka, its uniqueness, and its importance in the daily lives of the Myanmar people. The students then happily made and applied Thanaka to each other.

In 2021, the full moon of Tabodwe was designated as Myanma Thanaka Day, based on the Buddhist tradition of offering incense to the Buddha. Thanaka is an intangible cultural heritage of Myanmar, and public participation is essential for the effort to list Thanaka culture on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Therefore, all citizens are invited to participate in Myanma Thanaka cultural programmes. To participate in the ‘Practice of Thanaka Culture in Myanmar’ program, the public can scan the QR code placed at museums under the Department of Archaeology and National Museum or fill out the information about Thanaka on the Google Form at the following online link: https://docs.google. com/forms/d/e/ 1FAIpQLSe WCYIUWDb2Om 36LyK9e_ mgyaA6VXz8xioVZKnFNUNv6jWSog/ viewform.

MNA/TH

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