 |
|
| |
|
Combining the three regions of Kantarawaddy, Bawlahke and Kyehpogyi forms the
Kayah State. Previously they were the habitat of the red Kayins. The Kayah are
included in the 17 Kayin sub-groups.
|
|
After the emergence of the Kayah State, Kayah, Padaung (Kayan), Bre, Yintale,
Manu Manaw, Gheko, Gheba were recognized as of the Kayah stock. Ngwe Taung,
Seven Ponds area, the Hti wetlands and the Lawpita Palls are some of the
remarkable sites in the Kayah State.
|
|
The men dress in red trousers with white jackets and white headbands. The women
tie their hairs in knots wrapped in a red headband. Their jackets are
either black or red and have a black shawl. The belt is white and is about 2
meters long. Their skirts are mostly black and have lacquered cane rings around
their calves.
|
|
There is also a modem Kayah dress now worn by young girls on ceremonial days.
They also wear amber and coral necklaces. The ankles are also adorned with
beads.
|
|
The Kyauknyinhtoke festival or the festival where packets of steamed sticky
rice are distributed to all comers, the harvest festival, the Tagundaing
festival, when the whole village dance around a kind of a totem pole in honor
of the New Year and house warming are unique to the Kayah culture. The brass
drum, called-the Hpa Si or Frog Drum, is the most revered item of the Kayah.
|
|
The future is foretold by using the bones of the rooster. There are also
wrestling matches in the villages. Previously the Kayah were administered by a
system of local princes or Sawbwas. The Kantarawaddy and Sawlon haws(palaces)
where these princes lived are of historical interest.
|
|
 |
| A Kayah couple in traditional dresses (Chike
village) |
|
|
 |
| A Yinbaw couple in traditonal dress (Bawlahke) |
|
|
 |
| Zayein man (Palaung/Kayan stock) |
|
|
|
