Bagan girl whose face is covered with Tanaka

Bagan girl whose face is covered with Tanaka (Limonia Acidissima). The Tanaka is
gotten from the pulp of a tree (several varieties exist in Myanmar).
On this photo, a circular motive has been drawn,
leaves of trees are sometimes applied to change the patern.
Every morning or before every important social meeting the Burmese men and women
smear themselves the body and the face of Tanaka. The first application is made with a dough very
liquid, the second with a denser dough. The tanaka is applied then on the face and the arms.
It is in the same time a makeup, a balm for the skin, a protection against the sun.
The Tanaka can also be used as internal medicine notably for hepatic problems.

Bagan - Myanmar
(photograph Ananda Travel 1998)

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