From April 13th to 15th every year in Thailand , it is called "Songkran Festival", also known as "Water Splashing Festival" (Songkran ; วันสงกรานต์ ) , which is a very important festival in Thailand. , originated from Sanskrit, meaning to cross It is also the New Year of Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries, including Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia and the Dai people in China, to bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new year. It is also the most popular traditional festival for foreign tourists and locals.

" ตรุษ " is a Tamil word meaning the end of the year, on the day of the Songkran festival every year, the Songkran goddess will appear. During this period, Thai people will splash water on each other to celebrate; in addition, "water" represents purification and blessing in traditional Buddhist ceremonies, so people will use splashing water to symbolize the eradication of bad luck and sin, and start a pure year.

These three days have different meanings.

* April 13 ( Great Songkran): Buddha worship, Buddha bathing day and elders day

* April 14th ( Critical Day): Family Day, perform "water offerings" for elders to show respect and hope for blessings.

* April 15 ( Orientation Day)

Songkran Festival customs in Thailand

During Songkran , besides splashing water, people also bring offerings to temples to worship monks, worship Buddha, bathe Buddha, and buy birds, fish, etc.

One of the most important activities of the Songkran Festival is the Bathing Buddha ( สรงน้ำพระ ) .

Bathing Buddha is divided into "Bathing Buddha Statue" ( สรงน้ำพระพุทธรูป ) and "Bathing Monk" ( สรงน้ำพร ) ะภิกษุสามเณ .

Before bathing the Buddha statue, prepare flowers, candles and incense to show respect to the Buddha and burn incense, and then shower the Buddha statue with fragrant water.

Bathing monks is similar to the water offering. A silver basin is filled with fragrant pure water and lightly sprinkled on the hands or bodies of monks, and then offering Buddhist robes to monks to show respect and hope for blessings. This ceremony also reminds people to keep Pure heart.

After the worship of Buddha and the release of life, the so-called water splashing activity officially kicked off. In addition, on April 14 , which is Thailand's Family Day, a "water offering" ( รดน้ำดำหัว ) will be performed to the elders in the family. And apologize for the mistakes made, and hope to be blessed by the elders.