Spiritual Spring Cleaning

Songkran Festival copy — Image Courtesy of Lim Lean Eng

Songkran Festival, or known as the Thai Water Festival, is celebrated annually by the Thai Community from April 13th to 15th as traditional Thai New Year’s Day. It is one of the most important Thai festivals, celebrated all around Thailand including major tourists spots. People splash and pour water on each other as a cleansing ritual to wash away bad luck, then welcome the new year with blessings and good wishes.

In Thai, Songkran means to move or change place. It also denotes the Sun change of place in the zodiac system. Originally, water was gently sprinkled on the elderly, family and friends. As time goes by, the celebration became more magnificent – streets closed for transportation means and filled with enormous crowd, people armed with buckets of water, fistfuls of flour and water guns dousing each other in a cacophony of “Sawatdee pi mai” (Happy New Year) and laughter. People also spend time to visit the temple as well as their family and friends during the festival.

Meanwhile, Songkran is celebrated not only by the Thais, but also the locals and tourists in Penang. Visit one of the following temples if you want to experience this one-of-a-kind water fight on 13th April 2016:-

Where to go

• Wat Chayamangkalaran Thai Buddhist Temple, Lorong Burma, Pulau Tikus

• Dharmikara Burmese Buddhist Temple, Lorong Burma, Pulau Tikus

• Wat Rajaphohong Buddhist Temple, Ara Kuda, Bukit Mertajam

Do not forget to protect your belongings from being soaked before the water play starts. Seal them in plastic bags or leave them in the hotel/car and enjoy the festive moments to the fullest!

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