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Nat (deity)

Spirits venerated in Myanmar

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There are two types of nats in Burmese Belief: nat sein (နတ်စိမ်း), which are humans that were deified after their deaths, and all other nats, which are spirits of nature (spirits of water, trees etc.).

Much like sainthood, nats can be designated for a variety of reasons, including those only known in certain regions in Burma. Nat worship is less common in urban areas than in rural areas and is practised among ethnic minorities of Myanmar as well as in mainstream Bamar society. However, it is among the Theravada Buddhist Bamar that the most highly developed form of ceremony and ritual is seen.

Every Burmese village has a nat kun (နတ်ကွန်း) or nat sin (နတ်စင်), which essentially serves as a shrine to the village guardian nat called the ywa saung nat (ရွာစောင့်နတ်). Individual houses also have a shrine to a nat, usually a coconut is hung on a corner of the house or property, surrounded by perfume as an offering. One may inherit a certain member or, in some instances, two of the 37 Great Nats as mi hsaing hpa hsaing (မိဆိုင်ဖဆိုင်; lit. 'mother's side, father's side') from one or both parents' side to worship, depending on where their families originally come from. One also has a personal guardian deity called ko saung nat (ကိုယ်စောင့်နတ်).

Nat worship and Buddhism

Worship of nats predates Buddhism in Burma. With the arrival of Buddhism, however, the nats were syncretically merged with Buddhism. In his effort to convert the Burmese people from Ari Buddhism to Theravada Buddhism, Anawrahta used traditional nat spirits to attract people to his new religion. When asked why he allowed the nats to be placed in Buddhist temples and pagodas, Anawrahta answered, "Men will not come for the sake of new faith. Let them come for their old gods, and gradually they will be won over."

Academic opinions vary as to whether Burmese Buddhism and Burmese spirit worship are two separate entities or merged into a single religion. As with the rise of globalization, the importance of the nat religion on modern Myanmar and its people has been diminished. The formalizing of the official 37 Great Nats by King Anawrahta (1044–1077) of Bagan, has been interpreted as Burmanisation and establishment of Bamar supremacy in the Irrawaddy valley after the unification of the country and founding of the First Burmese Empire.

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