Mingalaba ( ; variously romanised as mingalarpar, mingalabar, or mingalar par) is the formal Burmese greeting." It is typically accompanied by a slight bow, or more formally, an

Añjali Mudrā Añjali Mudrā ( sa, अञ्जलि मुद्रा), is a hand gesture mainly associated with Indian religions and arts, encountered throughout Asia and beyond. It is a part of Indian classical dance postures such as Bharatanatyam, yoga p ...

gesture, wherein the palms are folded together. The phrase "mingalaba" is typically rendered in English as "may you be blessed" or "auspiciousness to you."

Origins

Much like the

Thai greeting The Thai greeting referred to as the ''wai'' ( th, ไหว้, ) consists of a slight bow, with the palms pressed together in a prayer-like fashion. It has its origin in the Indian ''Añjali Mudrā'', like the Indian '' namaste'' and Burmes ...

, mingalaba is a relatively modern creation. The phrase first emerged during

British rule in Burma ( Burmese) , conventional_long_name = Colony of Burma , common_name = Burma , era = Colonial era , event_start = First Anglo-Burmese War , year_start = 1824 , date_start = ...

in the 19th to 20th centuries, coined as a

Burmese language Burmese ( my, မြန်မာဘာသာ, MLCTS: ''mranmabhasa'', IPA: ) is a Sino-Tibetan language spoken in Myanmar (also known as Burma), where it is an official language, lingua franca, and the native language of the Burmans, the count ...

equivalent to 'hello' or 'how are you.' In the late 1960s, the Burmese government institutionalized the phrase in the country's educational system. Burmese pupils now greet their teachers with mingalaba at the beginning of each school day. Mingalaba itself is a phrase, decomposed into mingala + ba. The first word "mingala" (မင်္ဂလာ) originates from the

Pāli Pali () is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pāli Canon'' or ''Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of ''Theravāda'' Buddhism ...

term , which means auspicious, lucky, prosperous, or festive. The word also appears in a well-known Buddhist scripture called the

Maṅgala Sutta The ' is a discourse (Pali: '' sutta'') of Gautama Buddha on the subject of 'blessings' (''mangala'', also translated as 'good omen' or 'auspices' or 'good fortune'). In this discourse, Gautama Buddha describes 'blessings' that are wholesome p ...

. Burmese culture recognizes Twelve Auspicious Rites or "Mingala." In Burmese, "mingala" is affixed to several Burmese terms, including "to wed" (မင်္ဂလာဆောင်) and "housewarming" (အိမ်တက်မင်္ဂလာ). The second word , "ba" (ပါ), is a grammatical particle suffixed to Burmese verbs to denote politeness.

References

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Origins

References

See also