Songkran From the Past
If
you live in Thailand you are no doubt aware that the celebration of
Songkran has been canceled due to Covid-19.
From
Wikipedia: “The
Songkran celebration is rich with symbolic traditions. Mornings begin
with merit-making.
Visiting local temples and offering food to the Buddhist monks is
commonly practiced. On this specific occasion, performing water
pouring on Buddha statues and the young and elderly is a traditional
ritual on this holiday. It represents purification and the washing
away of one's sins and bad luck. As a festival of unity, people who
have moved away usually return home to their loved ones and elders.
Paying reverence to ancestors is an important part of Songkran
tradition.
The
holiday is known for its water festival. Major streets are closed to
traffic, and are used as arenas for water fights. Celebrants, young
and old, participate in this tradition by splashing water on each
other.”
Traditional parades are held in
most villages.
The
parades generally feature very loud traditional and popular morlam
music. At the front of the parade in our village is a Buddha usually
on the back of a pickup truck. Immediately behind is the music truck
followed by other vehicles with ‘money trees’ to collect money
for the local temple.
Behind
the vehicles many villagers dance, drink, splash water on each other
and generally have a huge party! During
the Songkran holiday, it is normal to play water games, sometimes
driving around with huge barrels of water to splash on others or to
wait by the side of the road to splash anyone brave enough to come
by.
Just
as important, maybe more so, is the family time. Anyone who is able
generally returns to their home towns or villages for family
celebration. Meals and drinks are shared from house to house and
respect is paid to elders. Like New Year’s Eve in most other
countries, drinking to excess is far from unusual. The bad side is
the huge number of traffic accidents and subsequent deaths that
occur.
Today
is the first day of the holiday. Normally the music is blasting from
very early morning until very late at night. Today, sadly, the only
sounds are a few children playing, roosters crowing and the
occasional motorcycle or pickup truck driving by. I have posted few
pictures from Songkran in years past. Some are from our village and
of our family and some from other villages. Many pictures were taken
from inside a pickup truck where my camera would be safe.
The urns containing ancestors' bones are cleaned and draped with flowers at this time each year.
Family time with fun and food!
Playing water games!
