Libation is a ritual pouring of a liquid offering to a god or spirit that was common in ancient religions and continues today. Various substances like wine, olive oil, or ghee have been used. In Hinduism and Buddhism, libations of water, milk or other liquids are offered to deities or poured during ceremonies to share merits. The water libation ceremony in Burmese Buddhism concludes ceremonies and shares accrued merits with all living beings.

1. is a ritual pouring of a liquid as an
offering to a god or spirit or
. It was common in
many religions of antiquity and continues to be
offered in various cultures today.
Various substances have been used for
libations, most commonly wine or olive oil, and
in India, ghee. The vessels used in the ritual,
including the patera, often had a significant form
which differentiated them from secular vessels.
The libation could be poured onto something of
religious significance, such as an altar, or into
the earth.

2. The Tarpan (Offering holy water) is being done
at the Jagannath Ghat,Kolkata, at end of the
In Hinduism the ritual is part of Tarpan and also
performed during Pitru Paksha (Fortnight of the
ancestors) falling theBhadrapada month
of Hindu calendar, (Sept-Oct).[40]
In India and Nepal, Lord Shiva (also Vishnu and
other deities) is offered libation with water by
devotees at many temples when they go visit the
temple, and on special occasions elaborately
with water, milk, yogurt, ghee, honey, and sugar.

3. Burmese Buddhist water libation ceremony in
1900
In Burmese Buddhism, the water libation
ceremony, called yay zet cha (ရေစက်ချ), which
involves the ceremonial pouring of water from a
vessel of water into a vase, drop by drop,
concludes most Buddhist ceremonies, including
donation celebrations, shinbyu, and feasts. This
ceremonial libation is done to share the
accrued merit with all other living beings in all 31
planes of existence.[31]
The ceremony has three
primary prayers: the confession of faith, the
pouring of water, and the sharing of
merits.[32]
While the water is poured, a
confession of faith, called the hsu taung imaya

4. dhammanu (ဆုရ ောင််း ဣမောယ ဓမမောနု), is recited
and led by the monks.[33]
Then, the merit is distributed by the donors
(called ahmya wei) by thrice saying the
following:[32]
(To all those who can hear), we share our merits
with all beings
(Kya kya thahmya), ahmya ahmya ahmya yu
daw mu gya ba gon law
((ကကော်းကကော်းသမျှ)အမျှ အမျှ အမျှ ယူရ ော်မူကကပါ
ကုန်ရ ော)
Afterward, in unison, the participants repeat
thrice a declaration of
affirmation: thadu (သောဓု, sadhu), Pali for "well
done", akin to the Christian use of amen.
Afterward, the libated water is poured on soil
outside, to return the water to Vasudhara. The
earth goddess Vasudhara is invoked to witness
these meritorious deeds.[33]
Prior to colonial rule, the water libation
ceremony was also performed during the
crowning of Burmese kings, as part of
procedures written in the Raza Thewaka Dipani

5. Kyan, an 1849 text that outlines proper conduct
of Burmese kings.[34][35]
Although the offering of water to Vasudhara may
have pre-Buddhist roots, this ceremony is
believed to have been started by
King Bimbisara, who poured the libation of
water, to share his merit with his ancestors who
had become pretas.[36][37][38]
This ceremony is also practiced at the end of
Thai and Laotian Buddhist rituals to transfer
merit, where it is called kruat nam (กกกกกกก)
and yaat nam respectively.[39]
In Chinese customs, rice wine or tea is poured in
front of an altar or tombstone horizontally from
right to left with both hands as an offering to
gods and in honour of deceased. The offering is
usually placed on the altar for a while before
being offered in libation. In more elaborate
ceremonies honouring deities, the libation may
be done over the burning paper offerings;
whereas for the deceased, the wine is only
poured onto the ground.
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