[[File:BurmeseZayat.jpg|thumb|Illustration of a traditional Burmese zayat]]
A '''zayat''' ({{MYname|MY=ဇရပ်|MLCTS=ja. rap}}; {{IPA-my|zəjaʔ|IPA}}; from [[Mon language|Mon]] {{my|ဇြပ်}}) is a [[Burma|Burmese]] building found in almost every village. It serves primarily as a shelter for travelers, at the same time, is also an assembly place for religious occasions as well as meeting for the villagers to discuss the needs and plans of the village. [[Theravada]] buddhist monks use zayats as their dwelling place while they are exercising precepts on sabath[[uposatha|sabbath days]]. [[Vihara|Buddhist monasteries]] may have one or more zayats nearby. Donors mostly build Zayats along main roads aiming to provide the exhausted travelers with water and shelter. Beginning with [[Adoniram Judson]]'s construction of one in 1818 Christian missionaries have also adopted their use.<ref>{{cite book | first=Henry | last=Howe | title=Adventures and Achievements of Americans | url=https://archive.org/details/achievmentsamer00howerich | publisher=Geo. F. Tuttle | location=New York | year=1859}} as seen at [https://books.google.com/books?vid=0Eou4xMi8hqyZl&id=yCwJ5xoKSWMC&pg=RA1-PA518&lpg=RA1-PA518&dq=Zayat+teaching+OR+buddhist+OR+buddhism+OR+religion+OR+architecture+OR+building+-rabbit+-russian+-russia+-El-Zayat+-Al-Zayat Google Books]</ref><ref>{{cite web | author = Robina | title=The Story of Yawthit | work=Burma Issues Newsletter, Volume 8 Number 3, March 1998 | url=http://www.burmaissues.org/En/Newsletter/BINews1998-03.php | accessdate=2006-06-04}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last=Capt. C.J.F.S. Forbes, F.R.G.S., M.R.A.S, &c., Officiating Deputy-Commissioner, British Burma| title=British Burma and Its People: Being Sketches of Native Manners, Customs, and Religion | publisher=John Murray | location=London | year=1878}} as seen at [https://books.google.com/books?vid=LCCN05007532&id=Su9Ju7P3n44C&pg=PA170&lpg=PA170&dq=Zayat+teaching+OR+buddhist+OR+buddhism+OR+religion+OR+architecture+OR+building+-rabbit+-russian+-russia+-El-Zayat+-Al-Zayat Google Books]</ref>
[[File:Thudhama Zayats.jpg|thumb|The ''Thudamma'' Zayats in [[Mandalay]] were built during the [[Konbaung Dynasty]].]]
