This week I was teaching in a seventh grade classroom with 19 girls. On one of the days, I taught them about U.S. holidays. We talked about Christmas, Easter, Halloween and the Fourth of July. After my lesson, the students told me about some of their Thai holidays, and most agreed that their favorite Thai holiday is Songkran. This is what I learned from them.
This week I learned about Songkran, which is a holiday in Thailand that takes place on April 13th, 14th and 15th. Songkran is a Buddhist festival that signals the beginning of the Thai New Year. This April will be the beginning of the year 2563 according to the Buddhist calendar, which is different than the calendar used in the United States. On Songkran, Thai people gather in the streets to spalsh water on each other using water guns, buckets and anything else they can find. Individuals also go to temples to pour water on images of Buddha as a sign of respect. They may also leave offerings at the temples.
Many Thai traditions come from traditions celebrated in India. Songkran is the Thai interpretation of the Indian festival Makar Sankranti. This holiday is celebrated because of the astrological shift of the sun from Pisces to Aries in the zodiac, which is said to bring in the spring.
