Songkran
Songkran (เทศกาลสงกรานต์) is official national holiday for the New Year and coincides with the rising of the sign Aries ♈ in the astrological charts. It is an annual festival that takes place on the 13th of April and ends on the 15th of April, depending on the days, e.g if the 13th falls on a Saturday, the celebrations will go from the 12th to the 16th. Other names include:
- Songkran Festival
- Maha Songkran
Origins
The word Songkran is actually derived from the Sanskrit word saṅkrānti (संक्रान्ति) which means to move or movement.
According to the Buddhist scripture of Wat Pho, Songkran originated from the death of Kapila Brahma (a god). This is a condensed version of the story:
Once there was a wealthy man and his neighbour, a drunk. The drunkard had a habit of belittling the childless rich man, while he himself had 2 sons. Tired of this ridicule, the rich man beseeched the Sun and Moon gods for a son. This didn't work so he offered cooked rice to a tree god living in a banyan treetree, who the asked Indra to to grant the wish and as such, a son, Thammabal, was born.
Thammabal was a very smart child who even learnt the language of birds (important for later). Once Kapila Brahma heard of the child, he decided to test his cleverness with this riddle:
"Where is the glory of men (sri) located in the morning, during the day, and in the evening?"
And the loser of this riddle would have his head cut off.
The child thought for 6 days but couldn't think of an answer. While he was laying under a sugar palm tree, he overheard 2 eagles conversing about how they planned to eat his body and the female asked the male if he knew the answer, to which he replied,
" "In the morning, the sri appears on the face, so people wash their faces every morning. At noon, the sri is at the chest where people spray perfume every noon. In the evening, the sri goes to the feet, so people wash their feet every evening."
Thammabal memorised the answer and told it to Kapila Brahma. Having lost, Kapila summoned all 7 of his daughters and told them that he had to cut his head off, but, if it fell to Earth, an inferno would engulf the world, if it was thrown into the air, it would never rain again and if it landed in the sea , all the seawater would dry up, so, to prevent this, he told his daughters to put his head on an elevated phan. Thungusa, the eldest, then placed the phan in a cave on Mt Kailasha.
Now when the Sun enters Aries every year, one of Kapila Brahma's daughters, called the Nang Songkran (นางสงกรานต์ Lady Songkran) for that year, and other angels form a procession. One of them takes the phan and the head from the cave. The lady stands, sits, reclines an sleeps on the back of an animal depending on the time. From the dawn to midday, the lady stands on the back of her the animal. From midday until the sunset, she sits. Between sunset and midnight, the lady lies down on the animal but leaves her eyes open. After midnight, she sleeps.
Each day of the week (depending on when Songkran falls) has a different association, as follows:
Monday - Khorakha (daughter), Cork tree flowers, Moonstone, Oil, Sword in the right hand, staff in the left, Tiger as the animal.
Tuesday - Raksot, Lotus flower, Agate, Blood, Trident right, Bow left, Pig
Wednesday - Mantha, Champak flowers, Cat's eye, Butter, Stylus right, Staff left, Donkey
Thursday - Kirini, Magnolia, Emerald, Nuts and sesame seeds, Hook right, Bow left, Elephant
Friday - Kimitha, Water lilies, Topaz, Banana Sword right, Lute left, Buffalo
Saturday - Mahothon, Water hyacinth flowers, Blue sapphire, Hog deer meat, Discus right, Trident left, Peacock
Sunday - Thungsa - Pomegranate flowers, Ruby, Fig, Discus right, Conch left, Garuda
New Year is now officially celebrated on the 1st January in Thailand. Songkran was the official New Year until 1888 but it was switched to a fixed date of the 1st of April. In 1940, this date was then moved to the 1st of January. The traditional Thai New Year Songkran then became a national holiday instead.
Customs
The customs of Songkran include:
- Visiting local temples
- Offering food to Buddhist monks
- Paying reverence to ancestors
- Traveling home to visit family
- Public Water fights/festivals
- Parades
- Lady/Miss Songkran contests
I think we'll leave this here as there is a lot of information in this post!! If any of the above information is incorrect, please let me know so I can ammend it immediately!!
Blessings,
C )0(
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