sake. The festival starts from the eight waxing day to the full moon of Wagaung, roughly equivalent to August, lasting eight or nine days altogether, each of which has its own commemorative event : 1st and 2nd days - Homage to the nats () 3rd day - Night meeting of the royal council () 4th day - The ritual shower () 5th day - Enthronement () 6th day - Hare hunting () 7th day - Felling trees () 8th day - The good send-off for Pakhan nat () 9th day - The gilding of the statues () The opening ritual The nat festival starts with paying respect to and the invocation to the nat on the first and second days, in which a spirit medium taking the role of an announcer sings a specially designated song () for the nat, similar to ode, which retells the life of the nat. The Burmese traditional orchestra called Hsaing waing plays the nat music and the seemingly possessed medium dances to the music. The mediums' dance is the major element of the festival and occurs throughout the days of the festival. It is said that the third day is the official opening of the festival, on which day 'Night meeting of the royal council' is held by displaying several ritual activities and mediums' dance. The ritual shower Then came the fourth day of the festival to celebrate 'the ritual shower', a ceremony of washing the idols of Taungbyon brothers. The general procedure starts with taking the two statues from the palace to the place of the event where the statues are washed alongside the washing and cleaning of the nats' items like betel cups and boxes. They are carried on the royal palanquin () by men of guardian militia. This procession is led by the nat chieftain, the dignitaries, gong players to play music, and lines of guards dressed up as the army of the king Anawrahta. On reaching the pavilion where the ritual will take place, the palanquin is left at the entrance and the palace guardians shower the two statues on the altar, then changes the clothes. Libation and other offerings are made as part of the ritual. Afterwards, on their return to the palace, the paying-respect of the two brothers' idols to the Buddha is carried out by rocking the palanquin back and forth in the direction of the pagoda,