Songkran Festival: Thai New Year Celebration
The Hungarians aren’t the only ones dousing each other with water
this April. The Thais are traditionally known to celebrate the Songkran
festival as the traditional New Year's Day from 13 to 15 April by
splashing water. The Songram festival coincides with the New Year of
many calendars of South and Southeast Asia.
The most obvious
celebration of Songkran is the throwing of water. Thais roam the streets
with containers of water or water guns (sometimes mixed with
mentholated talc), or post themselves at the side of roads with a garden
hose and drench each other and passersby. This, however, was not always
the main activity of this festival. Songkran was traditionally a time
to visit and pay respects to elders, including family members, friends,
neighbors, and monks.
The
throwing of water originated as a way to pay respect to people, by
capturing the water after it had been poured over the Buddhas for
cleansing and then using this "blessed" water to give good fortune to
elders and family by gently pouring it on the shoulder. Among young
people the holiday evolved to include dousing strangers with water to
relieve the heat, since April is the hottest month in Thailand
(temperatures can rise to over 100°F or 40°C on some days). This has
further evolved into water fights and splashing water over people riding
in vehicles.
Nowadays, the emphasis is on fun
and water-throwing rather than on the festival's spiritual and
religious aspects, which sometimes prompts complaints from
traditionalists. In recent years there have been calls to moderate the
festival to lessen the many alcohol-related road accidents as well as
injuries attributed to extreme behavior such as water being thrown in
the faces of traveling motorcyclists.
