A Shiny or novitiate is a religious ceremony; that every Myanmar Buddhist male has to undergo.Shinbyu means making a novice. Hence this ceremony is held to celebrate the Buddhist rite of initiating a boy into the Buddha's Sasana or religion. In other words, a boy is made into a novice at a The usual' stated purpose of this ceremony is to -errable the boys concerned to  inherit the Buddha's legacy. Buddhists consider a man's' life incomplete unless he becomes a novice in his boyhood for at least seven days. A boy should be at least seven years old for this ceremony so that he can shoo' away the crows that might try to snatch the food from his hands. The best time for a Shinbyu is the teenage when  the boys can carry out their religious duties in  earnest and with comprehension. But, these days, most parents seem to be son a  great hurry far reasons best known to themselves  and novitiate boys who are only three or  roar years old. This practice is ;deplorable since such young boys  can hardly handle their yellow robes let alone  observe the rules and precepts prescribed for  Samaneras or novices.  A novice is supposed to-spend his time pursuing  religious studies and telling beads and three-or 0 four-year-olds can hardly' be expected to perform  these tasks. Let's talk about the ceremony itself now. In rural areas, the first prerequisite for a Shinbyu ,  is a pandal. Those who can afford (it) hire ornate prefab pandals at. a considerable cost. Others construct temporary pandals with the assistance of the community. A Shinbyu being largely, a communal affair like  other social and religious ceremonies, neighbours  and well-wishers take part in all its tasks. The donor of the novitiate responds to their  goodwill by feeding them well.  When the pandal is ready, an image of the Buddha  is brought there with ceremony thereby  transforming the place into a temple for the  duration of the Shinbyu so that people take off  their footwear before entering it.  

Next, a tray or salver of offerings including a hand of bananas, a coconut and a few other things is hung from the roof of the pandal and dedicated to Shin ( $saint or the Reverend) Upagutta, an arahat believed to have the powers of warding off  natural as well as supernatural calamities such as  storms and untimely rains. A Shinbyu being a big affair, lots of other  preparations are also necessary. Invitations composed in formal, rhymed prose  have to be printed well in advance so that they  can be sent to all of the Shinbyu donor' s friends  and relations in time. Lots of foodstuffs such as rice, cooking oil,  dried-fish and tea have to, be purchased for a  Shinbyu is essentially a big feast.  Most rural Shinbyus being accompanied by  orchestral entertainment, orchestras have to be  hired in good time.  Those who can afford engage dancing troupes  called Anyeint-pwes or even two orchestras. Most Shinbyus feature several Shinlaungs, that is,  novices-to-be who are kept busy learning in Pali  the-request-for-the-yellow-robes and four verses  for telling beads, while other preparations for the  Shinbyu are going. Incidentally, telling beads is a strenuous task for the novices who follow the instructions to the letter as a fairly long Pali verse has to be recited   before each bead is told or pushed down an there are 108 of them. However, few novices seem to observe this rule  these days. A number of monks have to be respectfull invited to grace the $Shinbyu with their presence  and to accept the offerings especially procure for them. As a rule, a rural Shinbyu lasts (for) two days  the entry day and the big-feast day. Friends and relatives who live in the distance arrive on the entry day in time to take part in t Shinlaung-yu, that is, the afternoon procession  that takes the Shinlaungs round the village to the monasteries not leaving out the small nat shrine where statuettes of the local  guardian spirits are housed.  The Shinlaung-yu also known as Shinlaung-hlai is a procession-of friends, relatives and other  well-wishers. Of special interest in a Shinlaung-yu are the village  damsels dressed in their best clothes and  showing  off their beauty. The focus of attention in the whole procession is the holder of the betel-casket who, as a rule, is the  most beautiful virgin in the whole village.   

A Shinlaung-yu is a merry affair complete with mobile music and dancing as some musicians and a young female dancer riding the bullock carts  take part in the procession. The procession is led by the Sinlaungs on  horseback dressed in regalia and shaded with  golden umbrellas against the sun.  They need not fear falling off the horses as they  are well attended on by the horse handlers and the  horses are made to walk slowly. The donor of the Shinbyu carries a part of the  requisites of the voices. The musicians and the dancers are made to stop and perform at various points along the way. The procession is accompanied by a group of  monastic school boys shouting religious verses  called sho-lite-yadus which are appropriate to the  occasion. The shinlaungs and the participants of the  procession make obeisance to the monks at the  monasteries and come back On their return, the Shinlaung-handlers hide the  Shinlaungs until the latter are redeemed with thin,  soft and large pan-cakes, bananas and cheroots. t Those who take part in the Shinlawng-yu and the  guests from the distance are served with dinner  that night.     

A feeding enclosure has been built for the purpose together with the pandal. The guests and those who perform the various  tasks of the Shinbyu are treated to betel, cheroots,  pickled-tea, pan-cakes, bananas and green tea. The pandal is bustling with activity like a beehive until the Shinbyu is over. At night, it is illuminated brilliantly by means of a generator. When the orchestra is not playing, a Lou speaker  keeps blaring out songs by country favourites like  Twante Thein Dan and Hinthata Tun Yin  non-stop. The guests from the distance and the villagers are  regaled with music and/or dancing from about 7  p.m until far into the night.   If there is no dancing, two or three members of  the orchestra entertain the audience as stand-up  clowns. sometimes they crack jokes at a sight expense of  the shinbyu-donor, especially if they have not been  fed or treated well.   It is customary far the relations and friends of  the-shinbyu donor to present the musicians, the  clowns and/or the dancer with cash wards.   

The orchestra-strikes up soon after dawn on the big-feast day and keeps on playing intermittently  until the novitiation ceremony begins in the  afternoon.  On this day, not only the guests but also the whole  village are fed breakfast the main dish of which  usually is pork, beef or dried-fish.   Nearly the whole morning is taken up with the feeding business.  Then, the guests nod the villagers make cash contributions towards the novitiate. The Shinbyu donor responds to their act of cetana - (goodwill) by giving them cheroots, plain-tea cups, plastic containers etc as return-gifts.    Out-of-village guests are also supplied with snacks  for the road on their way back  The actual novitiation starts at about one or two o'clock the afternoon All the invited oinks have been sumptuously  feasted that morning and are now seated on the  dais-for-the-Sapgha in the pandal.   First of all, the Shinlaungs have their hair shaven  ff. Next they have to beg in Pali for that yellow robes.  monk-who is going to be their teacher teaches them the basics of a novice's life.