Ceremonial pole

Kay Htoe Boe is a Karenni ancient dance and prayer festival, held by the men in the Kayan community in Myanmar (Burma). In the Kayan creation story, the Eugenia tree is the first tree in the world. Kay Htoe Boe poles are usually made from the Eugenia tree.[4]

Kay Htoe Boe poles have four levels, named for the stars, sun and moon, and the fourth level is a ladder made with a long white cotton cloth.[4]

A predominantly wooden ovoo in northern Mongolia

A jangseung or village guardian is a Korean ceremonial pole, usually made of wood. Jangseungs were traditionally placed at the edges of villages to mark for village boundaries and frighten away demons. They were also worshipped as village tutelary deities.[5][6][7]

An Asherah pole is a sacred tree or pole that stood near Canaanite religious locations to honor the Ugaritic mother-goddess Asherah, consort of El.[8] The relation of the literary references to an asherah and archaeological finds of Judaean pillar-figurines has engendered a literature of debate.[9]

The asherim were also cult objects related to the worship of the fertility goddess Asherah, the consort of either Ba'al or, as inscriptions from Kuntillet ‘Ajrud and Khirbet el-Qom attest, Yahweh,[10] and thus objects of contention among competing cults. The insertion of "pole" begs the question by setting up unwarranted expectations for such a wooden object: "we are never told exactly what it was", observes John Day.[11] Though there was certainly a movement against goddess-worship at the Jerusalem Temple in the time of King Josiah, it did not long survive his reign, as the following four kings "did what was evil in the eyes of Yahweh" (2 Kings 23:32, 37; 24:9, 19). Further exhortations came from Jeremiah. The traditional interpretation of the Biblical text is that the Israelites imported pagan elements such as the Asherah poles from the surrounding Canaanites. In light of archeological finds, however, modern scholars now theorize that the Israelite folk religion was Canaanite in its inception and always polytheistic, and it was the prophets and priests who denounced the Asherah poles who were the innovators;[12] such theories inspire ongoing debate.[13]

In present times in Indian subcontinent several festivals and celebrations, as in Hinglajmata Sindh, Gudi Padwa, KathiKawadi,[14] Jatarakathi, Nandidhwaja,[15] Khambadev[14] (Maharashtra), Nimad (Madhya Pradesh), Gogaji temple (Rajasthan) and Khambeshvari (Odisha)[16] then in Tripura and in Manipur, central poles are features in temple and festival settings.

According to Adi Parva (critical edition) of Indian epic Mahabharata a Bamboo festival named Shakrotsava was Celebrated in Chedi Kingdom.[17] Uparichara Vasu was a king of Chedi belonging to the Puru dynasty. He was known as the friend of Indra. During his reign, Chedi kingdom introduced Shakrotsava festival in his kingdom in the honor of Indra. The festival involved planting of a bamboo pole every year, in honor of Indra. The king will then pray for the expansion of his cities and kingdom. After erecting the pole, people decked it with golden cloth and scents and garlands and various ornaments. (1,63).

Serge at 'Gesera' camp near the Selenga river

The Buryat and Yakut peoples of Siberia place ritual poles called serge at the entrances to yurts or houses to indicate ownership and for shamanistic practices.