Songkran Festival

Songkran is one of the most striking festivals in Thailand, for it is widely observed not only in Thailand but also in Myanmar, Cambodia, and Lao PDR.

Songkran is a Sanskrit word in Thai form which means the entry of sun into any sign of the Zodiac. In another sense, Songkran is also a traditional Thai New Year. Its full name is Maha Songkran or Major Songkran but the people call it simply the Songkran, which begins on the 13th April and ends on the 15th April.

On the eve of Songkran Day, the 12th April, the people clean their house and burn all the refuse. People believe that anything bad belonging to the old year will be unlucky to the owner if left and carried on to the New Year.

Early on the first day of Songkran, the 13th April, the young people and old in their new clothing go to the Wat or monastery belonging to their village or district to offer the food to the monk. A long table is erected in the compound of the Wat where monk’s alms blow stand in a row. People put the boiled rice into it and put food, fruit, and sweets into the cover of the alms blow.

In the afternoon of the same day there is bathing ceremony of the Buddha images. After this, there is “the water throwing feast “. Younger people will also go to pay their respect to and ask blessing from their elders and respect person. They will pour scented water into the palms of the old people and present them with a towel and the other bathing requisites. In the old days it was an actual bathing where the young people help the old people to take a bath and to change their old clothing and put on a new one which the young people present them as an act of respect to the age on the occasion of the New Year.

Another duty to be done during the Songkran Festival is a religious service called Bangsukun performed in sacred memory of the dead. When a person died and was cremated, the ashes and charred bones of common people were buried. On Songkran Day a religious service in sacred memory to the dead is officiated by a monk or monks at the place where the ashes and the bone have been deposited.

During the three days of Songkran, the people, mostly the young, amuse themselves by throwing water at one another.

The throwing of water during Songkran is not a mere amusement, but has some connection with the belief of having abundant rain for the coming season of cultivation. According to the popular belief, it rains because the Nagas or mythical serpents sport themselves by spouting water from the ocean. The more they spout the more abundantly the rain will come. The young people continue to sing dance and play games after the last day of Songkran comes to an end, if the rain has not yet begun.

Credit www.thaiembassy.jp