Knowledge | Posted by Zarni Kyaw
Songkran comes from the Sanskrit word sankranti, which roughly translates as “astrological transition”. The Buddhist festival, which is celebrated from April 13 to 15, marks the Thai New Year.
It’s a time for personal cleansing, making merit and keeping cool amid searing heat. It’s also an opportunity for families to get together and enjoy specially prepared meals.
In readiness for the holiday, Thais deep-clean their homes and public places, including offices and schools.
Parks and pavements are also spruced up.
People wake up early and visit temples to pray and present monks with offerings of food, robes and donations.
At home, young family members pour rose and jasmine water over the hands and feet of elders as an act of gratitude and devotion.
(Pouring water is a tradition of Thailand’s Songkran festival, done to show gratitude and to wash away sins. Photo: Shutterstock)
Songkran is also a time to pay reverence to ancestors. Splashing water to symbolise the washing away of sins and bad luck is a theme throughout the festival. The final day is known as Wan Payawan, or Bathing the Buddha day.
(A man pours water at Bangkok’s Wat Mahabut temple. People in Thailand splash water over Buddha statues during Songkran to wash away misfortune accumulated over the previous year. Photo: AFP)
Temple-goers trickle water gently down the backs of monks as a mark of respect, after which the chief monk will bless those gathered.
(Thais take part in a water fight during Songkran. Photo: AFP)
You’ll no doubt win a few skirmishes, but expect to be outgunned by firefighters armed with powerful hoses and elephants sprayin
g water from their trunks.
(A firefighter armed with a powerful hose targets passengers on a bus in Bangkok. Photo: Tim Pile)
(Elephants take part in the Songkran festivities, spraying water from their trunks. Photo: EPA-EFE)
In 2011, the Guinness World Record for the world’s largest water-gun fight was broken (3,477 people fired water at each other for 10 minutes).
The water war is a nationwide event, but the atmosphere gets especially lively in Bangkok.
(Foreign tourists and Thais take part in water fights to celebrate Songkran on the touristy Khaosan Road in Bangkok. Photo: AFP)
(Young people, drinks in hand, taking part in the Songkran festivities. Excessive alcohol intake is the biggest challenge for police during the holiday. Photo: AFP)
(Roving revellers have fun squirting passers-by, but water, wheels and alcohol can be a deadly combination. Photo: Tim Pile)
(There’s a fine line between harmless fun, including smearing people’s faces with talc, and more serious incidents of harassment. Photo: Tim Pile)
(Women armed with water guns during Songkran. Many girls and women have complained about being sexually harassed during the festival. Photo: Reuters)
(Fun as they may be, Songkran water fights have been known to result in stomach problems, colds and even pneumonia. Photo: Shutterstock)
Ref: Explainer Songkran, Thailand’s water festival: its Buddhist rituals, family traditions, mass water fights and dark side, from sexual harassment to drink driving (scmp)
Photo Credit-Shutterstock, AP, AFP, Reuters, Tim Pile, EPA-EFE
