" The soul of Myanmar people "

* Nadi Nain *

Wall paintings have been an important part of the history of human civilization since many years ago. Whether they are on the walls of the caves or churches or pagodas or temples or any other edifices of olden days, they are always good story tellers. A cave painting normally shows the picture of how human beings lived during the Stone Age or prehistoric times. Judging by the characters, costumes or architecture depicted in paintings we can say whether these early people were gatherers or hunters; whether they lived in clans, big families or communities. Besides we can also know their diet, tools, lifestyles, practices, industries and other important historical facts. And when civilization advanced, people began to build large edifices including castles, palaces, social centers, religious buildings and other complex structures. And most of these buildings were decorated with fi ne architectural designs and artistic works, and some have paintings on the walls. In reality, these wall paintings or in other words murals are the mirrors from which we can look back at the history in a realistic way.

The world’s earliest known and the fi nest preserved wall paintings can be found in Chauvet Cave in Artdeche department of southern France. They date back to Upper Paleo lithic times around 30,000 BC. The Upper Paleolithic or the Late Stone Age is the third and last subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age as it is understood in Europe, Africa and Asia. Very broadly, it dates back between 50,000 and 10,000 years ago. A large number of ancient wall paintings can also be found in Egyptian tombs (around 3150 BC).

Nowadays, many rural towns in some other countries have begun using murals to create tourist attractions with the intention of boosting economic income, which is a good example for Myanmar as we are already familiar with this kind of artistic works.

In our country, the best known murals can be found on the walls of religious buildings large and small in Bagan the showcase of ancient Myanmar culture. These wall paintings bear witness to the fact that we have been a highly civilized people since the very early times. What’s more, they also serve as the vitally important source in rediscovering the Bagan-period dance and music we proudly staged at the opening ceremony of the 27th Southeast Asian Games in Nay Pyi Taw!

Additionally, these murals are the source of foreign exchange income as tourists from around the world love watching or studying them during their visits to the religious edifices of Bagan ancient cultural zone a famous tourist hot spot in Asia.

As Bagan possesses a very large number of priceless cultural wonders including the murals, these heritages and artifacts are covered by a gigantic conservation project.

As for the conservation of these murals, Myanmar is working in cooperation with UNESCO, a UN agency that is running courses on conservation of ancient artifacts in the country. Moreover, the country will open a laboratory for conserving the murals effectively and scientifically.

In point of fact, all the ancient cultural heritages are the pride of the people or the identity of the country. So murals and other ancient cultural artifacts and structures can be said the soul of Myanmar people

#Themyawadydaily