စိတ်ထဲရှိသမျှ

A bamboo birth certificate.  Zartar manuscripts like this one with astrological and religious content are rarer now. I’ve seen a few in museums outside the country. This is the very first time ever I had a chance to hold it in my own hand.  Back in the old days, as I’ve been told, when a child was born, an astrologer would draw up a chart taking into account the week, the location of the stars, moon, and sun and the time of birth in accordance with the Myanmar lunar calendar. This was a common practice and believed that the time