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Les chants des Baul
The Bauls are mystic minstrels living in rural Bangladesh and West Bengal, India. The Baul movement, at its peak in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, has now regained popularity among the rural population of Bangladesh. Their music and way of life have influenced a large segment of Bengali culture, and particularly the...
South AsiaBangladeshNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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Le chant bouddhique du Ladakh : récitation de textes sacrés bouddhiques dans la région transhimalayenne du Ladakh, Jammu-et-Cachemire, Inde
In the monasteries and villages of the Ladakh region, Buddhist lamas (priests) chant sacred texts representing the spirit, philosophy and teachings of the Buddha. Two forms of Buddhism are practised in Ladakh – Mahayana and Vajrayana – and there are four major sects, namely Nyngma, Kagyud, Shakya and Geluk. Each sect has several forms...
South AsiaIndiaNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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La technique de la xylogravure chinoise
The traditional China engraved block printing technique requires the collaboration of half a dozen craftspeople possessed of printing expertise, dexterity and team spirit. The blocks themselves, made from the fine-grained wood of pear or jujube trees, are cut to a thickness of two centimetres and polished with sandpaper to prepare them...
East AsiaChinaNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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Le rituel pour amadouer les chamelles
Mongol herders perform the coaxing ritual to encourage a female camel to accept a new-born calf or to adopt an orphan. The mother is tied close to the calf and a singer begins a monotone song accompanied by gestures and chanting. The coaxer changes the melody depending on the mother’s behaviour, which may be initially aggressive, and...
East AsiaMongoliaNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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Les Furyu-odori, danses rituelles imprégnées des espoirs et prières de la population
Furyu-odori in Japan refers to various ritual folk dances, characterized by eye-catching costumes and lively dances and music. These local dances have been performed for centuries, primarily in rural areas. With life in these areas often affected by severe climate events, local communities created ritualistic performances to express...
East AsiaJapanNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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Le festival Danoje de Gangneung
The annual Gangneung Danoje Festival takes place in the town of Gangneung and its surroundings, situated east of the Taebaek Mountain Range on the Korean peninsula.The festival includes a shamanistic ritual on the Daegwallyeong Ridge, which pays tribute to the mountain deity and male and female tutelary deities. It encompasses...
East AsiaKorea, Republic ofNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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La tradition épique du Gesar
The ethnic Tibetan, Mongolian and Tu communities in western and northern China share the story of the ancient hero King Gesar, sent to heaven to vanquish monsters, depose the powerful, and aid the weak while unifying disparate tribes. The singers and storytellers who preserve the Gesar epic tradition perform episodes of the vast oral...
East AsiaChinaNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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Le lkhon khol de Wat Svay Andet
Lkhon Khol Wat Svay Andet is practised in one community surrounding a Buddhist monastery, Wat Svay Andet – located about 10km east of Phnom Penh on the Mekong River – and is performed by men wearing masks to the accompaniment of a traditional orchestra and melodious recitation. The specific aim is to propitiate the Neak Ta (guardian...
Southeast AsiaCambodiaNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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Les bains médicinaux Lum de la Sowa Rigpa, connaissances et pratiques du peuple tibétain en Chine concernant la vie, la santé et la prévention et le traitement des maladies
Lum medicinal bathing of Sowa Rigpa is a practice developed by the Tibetan people as part of a life view based on the five elements and a view about health and illness centered on three dynamics (Lung, Tripa and Pekan). In Tibetan, ‘Lum’ indicates the traditional knowledge and practices of bathing in natural hot springs, herbal water or...
East AsiaChinaNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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La danse des masques des tambours de Drametse
The mask dance of the Drametse community is a sacred dance performed during the Drametse festival in honour of Padmasambhava, a Buddhist guru. The festival, which takes place in this eastern Bhutanese village twice a year, is organized by the Ogyen Tegchok Namdroel Choeling Monastery. The dance features sixteen masked male dancers...
South AsiaBhutanNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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Les pratiques traditionnelles mongoles de vénération de sites sacrés
Mongolian practices of worshipping sacred sites have developed in the cultural space that is home to the nomadic lifestyle, which is characterized by its close harmony with nature and the environment. According to ancient shamanism, these practices are based on the belief in the existence of invisible deities of the sky, earth,...
East AsiaMongoliaNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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L’atā thingyan, la fête traditionnelle du Nouvel An au Myanmar
Atā Thingyan is a five-day festival that is observed in Myanmar to celebrate the traditional new year. The Myanmar Calendar Advisory Board determines the date on which Thingyan falls each year (typically in mid-April). Each community celebrates the festival in accordance with its traditions and customs, but common activities include...
Southeast AsiaMyanmarNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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Le nora, drame dansé dans le sud de la Thaïlande
Nora is a lively and acrobatic form of dance theatre and improvisational singing from southern Thailand. Performances normally include a long oral invocation, followed by a presentation by a lead character who dances with vigorous and elaborate movements of the legs, arms and fingers. The performances are usually based on stories about...
Southeast AsiaThailandNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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Le nuad thai, massage thaïlandais traditionnel
Nuad Thai, traditional Thai massage is regarded as part of the art, science and culture of traditional Thai healthcare. As a non-medicinal remedy and manual therapy, it involves bodily manipulation in which the practitioner helps rebalance the patient’s body, energy and structure to treat illnesses believed to be caused by the...
Southeast AsiaThailandNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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Les pratiques liées à la croyance viet en les déesses-mères des Trois mondes
To meet spiritual needs, everyday wishes and gain help in achieving good health and success communities in Viet Nam worship the Mother Goddesses of Three Realms: heaven, water, and mountains and forests. The Mother Goddesses include Liễu Hạnh (a nymph who descended to earth, lived as a human and became a Buddhist nun) referred to as the...
Southeast AsiaViet NamNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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Les arts Regong
In monasteries and villages along the Longwu River basin in Qinghai Province in western China, Buddhist monks and folk artists of the Tibetan and Tu ethnicity carry on the plastic arts of painting ''thangka'' and murals, crafting patchwork ''barbola'' and sculpting known collectively as the Regong arts. Their influence extends to nearby...
East AsiaChinaNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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Le rūkada nātya, théâtre traditionnel de marionnettes à fils au Sri Lanka
Rūkada Nātya is a type of drama performed using string puppets, traditionally to provide light entertainment and convey moral lessons to village communities. Rūkada Nātya is performed by family groups who belong to, or are connected with, the lineage known as Gamwari, living around the southern coastal towns of Ambalangoda, Balapitiya...
South AsiaSri LankaNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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Songkran en Thaïlande, la fête du Nouvel An thaïlandais traditionnel
In Thailand, Songkran refers to the sun’s annual passing into the Aries constellation, the first sign of the Zodiac, which marks the traditional start of the new year. Occurring in mid-April after the rice harvest, it is a time when people reunite with their families and pay their respects to older adults, ancestors and sacred Buddha...
Southeast AsiaThailandNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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Le talchum, danse théâtrale masquée en République de Corée
Talchum is a performing art that encompasses dance, music and theatre. An ensemble of six to ten musicians accompanies masked performers who humorously explore social issues through dramatic combinations of songs, dances, movements and dialogue. The practice uses caricatures of everyday characters to convey its underlying appeal to...
East AsiaKorea, Republic ofNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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L’opéra tibétain
Tibetan opera, the most popular traditional opera of minority ethnic groups in China, is a comprehensive art combining folk song, dance, storytelling, chant, acrobatics and religious performance. Most popular in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau in western China, the performance begins with a prayer ceremony, including the cleansing of the...
East AsiaChinaNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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Les savoir-faire traditionnels relatifs à la fabrication de Dumbara Ratā Kalāla
Sri Lankan Dumbara Rata Kalala, or Dumbara mats, are traditional hand-made mats used as wall hangings, tapestries or cushion covers. The mats are made in two villages (Kalasirigama and Alokagama) by a community called kinnara that traditionally supplied ornamental mats to the royal palace as part of obligatory service to the crown and...
South AsiaSri LankaNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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L’imprimerie chinoise à caractères mobiles en bois
One of the world’s oldest printing techniques, wooden movable-type printing is maintained in Rui’an County, Zhejiang Province, where it is used in compiling and printing clan genealogies. Men are trained to draw and engrave Chinese characters, which are then set into a type-page and printed. This requires abundant historical knowledge...
East AsiaChinaNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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Le Yeondeunghoe, fête des lanternes en République de Corée
Yeondeunghoe, lantern lighting festival, takes place throughout the Republic of Korea. As the eighth day of the fourth lunar month (Buddha’s birthday) approaches, the entire country lights up with colourful lanterns. Originally a religious ritual to celebrate Shakyamuni’s birth, Yeondeunghoe has now become a national spring festival...
East AsiaKorea, Republic ofNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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Le Yeongsanjae
A central element of Korean Buddhist culture, Yeongsanjae is a re-enactment of Buddha’s delivery of the Lotus Sutra on the Vulture Peak in India, through which philosophical and spiritual messages of Buddhism are expressed and people in attendance develop self-discipline. Yeongsanjae begins with a ritual reception for all the saints and...
East AsiaKorea, Republic ofNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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