Table of Contents
- 1 What is the meaning of water festival?
- 2 What is the famous activity of Songkran festival?
- 3 Why did the Songkran festival start?
- 4 What do water festivals do?
- 5 What does Songkran symbolize?
- 6 Why is Thai New Year in April?
- 7 Is Songkran religious?
- 8 Why is Songkran celebrated for kids?
- 9 How did the Songkran water festival get its name?
- 10 Why do they sprinkle water on people at Songkran?
What is the meaning of water festival?
The Water Festival is the New Year’s celebrations that take place in Southeast Asian countries such as Burma, Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand as well as Yunnan, China. It is called the ‘Water Festival’ by Westerners because people splash / pour water at one another as part of the cleansing ritual to welcome the new year.
What is the famous activity of Songkran festival?
This water festival in Thailand involves merry making, presenting offerings to monks, releasing birds and fishes into river, paying respect to elders, building sand pagodas, listening to sermons and, more importantly, splashing of water. This is believed to bring longevity, good health and prosperity.
Why did the Songkran festival start?
The festival is said to have its origins in a Hindu spring festival that marked the arrival of the new harvest season in ancient India. While other Southeast Asian countries celebrate a similar traditional new year holiday, Thailand’s Songkran is the most well-known around the world.
What did people do Songkran?
Outside, Songkran is celebrated with street parties featuring loud music and a giant friendly water fight. People collect water in buckets, squirt guns, and anything else they can find, then hit the streets to playfully splash each other. It’s a good thing April is one of the hottest months of the year in Thailand!
Why do we celebrate Water Festival?
The water festival is a celebration of the rebirth of the country through the monsoon rains, and the colorful boat races a vestige of the former military might of Angkor. Dating back to Angkorian times, today’s Water Festival is a throwback to times past.
What do water festivals do?
Traditional dance, singing and cultural shows are performed together during the festival. Religious activities in the tradition of Theravada Buddhism are also carried out at both pagoda and monastery. Young people visit elders to pay respect during this period.
What does Songkran symbolize?
Songkran is the traditional Thai New Year festival since the former time. It is a celebration that embraces goodwill, love, compassion. and thankfulness, using water as the means of expression. The word Songkran derives from Sanskrit meaning to move or step forward.
Why is Thai New Year in April?
The traditional Thai New Year Songkran was transformed into a national holiday. Celebrations are famous for the public water fights framed as ritual cleansing….Songkran (Thailand)
| Songkran | |
|---|---|
| Observed by | Thai and Malaysian Siamese |
| Significance | Marks the Thai New Year |
| Begins | 13 April |
| Ends | 15 April |
Why is Songkran important?
Songkran is regarded as one of the most important traditions in Thailand because it encompasses the three major values in the Thai way of life which are: going to the temples and attending Buddhist sermons are auspicious activities done during Songkran.
How do Thai celebrate New Year?
For the January New Year’s celebration, Thai people often exchange gifts with friends and family members. It’s also common for them to pay a visit to their local temple so that they can make merit, participate in temple rites and otherwise ring in the coming year.
Is Songkran religious?
Songkran is a religious festival with two aspects that are particularly important: the family, that has first priority, and the century-old ceremonies taking place in the temples. During the Songkran festivities, young people pay tribute to the older ones, parents as well as grandparents.
Why is Songkran celebrated for kids?
Songkran: The Thai Water Festival It is a symbol of washing away the old year to prepare for the new year. Traditionally, it was customary to splash water on family members and elders as a way of seeking good fortune.
How did the Songkran water festival get its name?
An important event on the Buddhist calendar, this water festival marks the beginning of the traditional Thai New Year. The name Songkran comes from a Sanskrit word meaning ‘passing’ or ‘approaching’.
Why is the Songkran festival important in Thailand?
Songkran – also known as the Water Splashing Festival – is a celebration to mark the start of the Buddhist New Year. Buddha images are bathed, and younger Thais show respect to monks and elders by sprinkled water over their hands.
What’s the name of the Water Festival in Thailand?
He’s been covering all things Asia for TripSavvy since 2010. Sometimes referred to as the Thailand Water Festival, Songkran is an annual event that marks the beginning of the Thai New Year. It’s the largest celebration throughout the whole country and is also famous for being one of the wildest water fights you may ever participate in.
Why do they sprinkle water on people at Songkran?
The true Songkran tradition is to sprinkling water on others. However, it has transformed as locals and travellers use buckets and water guns to take the festival to a whole other level and make it into a massive water fight. In Thai tradition to soaking people with water is a symbol of cleaning bad actions and thoughts.