Burma is a country with about 135 ethnic groups. Out of them, Shan, Bamar, Kayah, Kayin, Chin, Mon, Kachin, and Rakhine are the main races. All of them bear their own tradition, dialect, culture, legendary as well as traditional costume, and this promises to bring you interesting Burma tours.
Burmese traditional costumes are “longyi” (sarong) together with “eingyi” (blouse) & (shirt). People first came to Burma from Tibet, India and Mongolia several centuries ago. The way of dressing among their earliest people called “Pyus” looked like the Indian. As the King of Anawyatha took the lead in the battle in the country of India, he at the same time brought this country’s traditions as well as cultures back to Burma. In that way, Indian culture has had an influence on Burmese people since then.
During Burma travels & tours, you will learn that there are differences in traditional costumes between Shan and Kayah men in term of loose trousers. The trousers of Shan’ have Shan is terracotta, light brown, brown or gray color while those of Kayah are all black.
The traditional “longyis” is 2 meters long and it is made from the cloth used in an unfinished garment or the material of cotton.
To wear and make Burma travel tour unforgettable, you can ask local people to help you in gathering the front of this traditional “longyi” in order to create two short lengths of the material and they will help you twist these lengths into a half knot, tucking one end in at the waist and the other will be protruded from the knot. Shan men’ s trousers are tied in the same way as Kayah men do with “longyi”.
The “eingyi” in white is like a shirt with a collar of mandarin. Men in Kayah, Bamar, Shan, Kachin, Mon, and Rakhine usually put on a traditional Jacket – “teik -pon “ – with their “eingyi”. Its colour ranges from white, black, gray to terracotta. However, men from Kayin as well as Chin wear a long dress, not a “tiek-pon”.
These people use a “gaung-baung” turban to put on their heads and then velvet slippers or simple rubber can be used as footwear.
Half-length “longyis” of Bamar women usually has solid colors with flower prints as well as a lot of various design patterns. A well-known pattern can be zig zag “ acheig” or wavy. Traditional “longyi” for Rakhine women can be “acheig”. A mon “longyi” is in the colour of red base, with partial stripes on and in the design pattern of very small checks. Kayin as well as Kayah “longyis” are designed with horizontal stripes in the colour of green or red. If you want to try this Burma traditional clothes during your tours, you can ask for help from Kayah women, they can assist you in tying the clothes in a beautiful way, together with a long band in front of them at the waist. Shan “longyi” contains vertical or horizontal stripes in the middle. Plain colour can be seen in upper as well as lower parts. There are various volumes in Kachin “Longyi”, called “manaw” ones and in the colour of red or black. People usually wear loose cane belts and they use two pieces of clothing to tie at legs.
The only color of Kachin “eingyi” is black and it looks very attractive, worth trying on during your Burma tours because it is adorned with various pieces of silver. Women in Kayin use a long dress called “thin-dai” which has been decorated with a lot of threads. “eingyis” of Bamar, Rakhine, Mon, Kayah, Chin and Shan women look like each other. Each contains a blouse which is at waist length and form-fitting. From experiences in Burma tours, you can see that Kayah women use a traditional shawl on the “eingyi”. This is embroiled with royal birds of both genders and these are named “Keinayee & Keinayah”. Women from Bamar, Mon and Rakhine put a shawl on the shoulders.
