Hanuman
04-12-2006, 01:10 AM
Love the Songkran festival, where random people toss water on each other. It's especially great cause this time of year, it's so hot, so people love getting splashed, of course the hot laddies, get a little extra attention. From Wikipedia -
The Thai New Year (Southeast Asian New Year) (???????? = Songkran in Thai language) is celebrated every year on April 13 to April 15. It is also celebrated in Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar (Burma). Sri Lanka also celebrates a similar festival called Sinhalese and Tamil new year on the same dates.
The date of the festival was originally set by astrological calculation, but it is now fixed . If these days fall on a weekend, the missed days off will be taken on the days immediately following (But Sri Lanka still uses an astrological calculation to set the dates and times based on the sun's positional change and those dates and times are used to start the festival events). Songkran falls in the hottest time of the year in Thailand, at the end of the dry season. Until 1888 the Thai New Year was the beginning of the year in Thailand; thereafter April 1 was used until 1940. January 1 is now the beginning of the year. The traditional Thai New Year has been a national holiday since then.
[edit]
New year traditions
The most obvious celebration of Songkran is the throwing of water. People roam the streets with bowls of water, water guns or even a garden hose, and drench each other and passersby. Some even mix colored powder into the water. This tradition originated in the lustration ceremony, in which the Buddha images in the temples are cleaned. In many cities, such as Chiang Mai, the Buddha statues from all of the wats in the city are paraded through the streets, so that people can throw water on them as they pass.
The use of plaster is also very common having originated in the plaster used by monks to mark blessings
Other traditional elements of the festival include:
Young people visit elders, and pour small amount of lustral water on the hands of their elders as a sign of respect.
People carry handfuls of sand to their temple (in order to make up for the dirt that they carry away on their feet during the rest of the year). The sand is then piled into large, tiered sand castles and decorated with colorful flags.
In general, Songkran is a time for cleaning and renewal. Many Thais take this opportunity to give their home a thorough cleaning.
The Thai New Year (Southeast Asian New Year) (???????? = Songkran in Thai language) is celebrated every year on April 13 to April 15. It is also celebrated in Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar (Burma). Sri Lanka also celebrates a similar festival called Sinhalese and Tamil new year on the same dates.
The date of the festival was originally set by astrological calculation, but it is now fixed . If these days fall on a weekend, the missed days off will be taken on the days immediately following (But Sri Lanka still uses an astrological calculation to set the dates and times based on the sun's positional change and those dates and times are used to start the festival events). Songkran falls in the hottest time of the year in Thailand, at the end of the dry season. Until 1888 the Thai New Year was the beginning of the year in Thailand; thereafter April 1 was used until 1940. January 1 is now the beginning of the year. The traditional Thai New Year has been a national holiday since then.
[edit]
New year traditions
The most obvious celebration of Songkran is the throwing of water. People roam the streets with bowls of water, water guns or even a garden hose, and drench each other and passersby. Some even mix colored powder into the water. This tradition originated in the lustration ceremony, in which the Buddha images in the temples are cleaned. In many cities, such as Chiang Mai, the Buddha statues from all of the wats in the city are paraded through the streets, so that people can throw water on them as they pass.
The use of plaster is also very common having originated in the plaster used by monks to mark blessings
Other traditional elements of the festival include:
Young people visit elders, and pour small amount of lustral water on the hands of their elders as a sign of respect.
People carry handfuls of sand to their temple (in order to make up for the dirt that they carry away on their feet during the rest of the year). The sand is then piled into large, tiered sand castles and decorated with colorful flags.
In general, Songkran is a time for cleaning and renewal. Many Thais take this opportunity to give their home a thorough cleaning.