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Both names of the country are rooted in Hinduism; Burma is the British colonial officials' phonetic equivalent for the first half of Brahma Desha the ancient name of the region. [24] Brahma is part of Hindu trinity, a deity with four heads. The name Myanmar is regional language [25] transliteration of Brahma, where b and m are interchangeable. [24]
Temples in the ancient city of Bagan. Buddhism (Burmese: ဗုဒ္ဓဘာသာ), specifically Theravāda Buddhism (Burmese: ထေရဝါဒဗုဒ္ဓဘာသာ), is the official and state religion of Myanmar since 1961, [2] and practiced by nearly 90% of the population.
A testament to the continued survival of Burmese folk religion can be seen by the fact that the prime minister of Burma in the mid 20th century, U Nu, erected a nat-sin (nat shrine) as well as a traditional Buddhist shrine. This toleration of the nats continued through the socialist regime (1962-1968).
In response, U Khin Maung Lat, the new President of BMC, decided to discontinue the religious practices of the BMC and rejoin the AFPFL. U Nu asked the BMC to dissolve in 1955, and removed it from AFPFL on 30 September 1956. Later U Nu decreed Buddhism as the state religion of Burma, angering religious minorities. He was then sued by U Than Tin ...
In 2020, Freedom House rated Burma's religious freedom as 1 out of 4, noting that the constitution provides for freedom of religion and recognises Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and animism. However, some anti-Muslim hate speech and discrimination has been amplified by social media, state institutions and mainstream news websites.
This disenfranchised many Muslims in Myanmar, even though they had lived in Myanmar for several generations. [5] The Rohingya people are a large Muslim group in Myanmar; the Rohingyas have been among the most persecuted group under Myanmar's military regime, with the Kachin, who are predominantly U.S. Baptists, a close second. [6]
The cinema of Myanmar and former British Burma has a long history dating back to the 1910s. Burma's first film was a recording of the funeral of Tun Shein - a leading politician of the 1910s, who campaigned for Burmese independence in London. During the 1920s and 1930s, many Burmese-owned film companies (such as A1, New Burma, British Burma ...
Academic opinions vary as to whether Burmese Buddhism and Burmese spirit worship are two separate entities, or merged into a single religion. [ citation needed ] As with a rise of globalization , the importance of the nat religion on modern Myanmar and its people has been diminished.