Songkran Festival in Thailand

Songkran Festival in Thailand

“Songkran” is the Thai traditional New Year and an occasion for family reunion. At this time, people from the rural areas who are working in the city usually return home to celebrate the festival. Thus, when the time comes, Bangkok temporarily turns into a deserted city.

The festival falls on April 13 and the annual celebration is held throughout the kingdom. In fact, “Songkran” is a Thai word which means “move” or “change place” as it is the day when the sun changes its position in the zodiac. It is also known as the “Water Festival” as people believe that water will wash away bad luck.

This Thai traditional New Year begins with early morning merit-making offering food to Buddhist monks and releasing caged birds to fly freely into the sky. During this auspicious occasion, any animals kept will be set free. Paying homage to one’s ancestors is an important part of the day. People will pay their respects to the elders by pouring scented water over the palms of their hands. The elders in return wish the youngsters good luck and prosperity.

In the afternoon, after performing a bathing rite for Buddha images and the monks, the celebrants both young and old, joyfully splash water on each other. The most-talked about celebration takes place in the northern province of Chiang Mai where Songkran is celebrated from April 13 to 15. During this period, people from all parts of the country flock there to enjoy the water festival, to watch the Miss Songkran Contest and the beautiful parades.



 

In Bangkok, the Buddha image “Buddhasihing” is brought out from the Nation Museum for people to sprinkle lustral water at Sanam Luang opposite the Grand Palace.

Tak Bat Devo and Chak Phra Festivals in Thailand

Tak Bat Devo and Chak Phra Festivals in Thailand


There is a Buddhist myth that during one Rains Retreat or “Khao Phansa” Lord Buddha went to heaven to deliver a sermon to his mother who died after giving birth to Lord Buddha (then Prince Siddharatha) and was born again in heaven. The sermon given was said to last for the entire period of the Rains Retreat (3 months).

Upon completing his mission in heaven, Lord Buddha then returned to earth and was greeted by a crowd of his disciples and followers. To commemorate this event, two public festivals are held, namely; the “Tak Bat Devo” in the central region and the “Chak Phra” in the south. Both portray the event of Lord Buddha’s return to earth and annually take place immediately after the end of the 3-month Rains Retreat. However, the celebration of these two festivals may be different in its preparation and practices. In other words, Tak Bat Devo means “offering of food to Buddhist monks”. The celebration is an imitation of Lord Buddha’s descent from heaven. Thus, a high place such as the hill is preferably used as a starting point, the Golden Mount of Wat Sraket in Bangkok is a good example of this. But for the temple built far away from the hill, the consecrated assembly hall (or Uposatha) can also be used as a starting point.



When all is ready, the row of Buddhist monks, headed by the image of a standing Buddha carried by men representing God Indra and God Brahma, will move slowly along the path arranged in advance. People then offer a variety of food and fruit to the passing monks. The rite ends when the last monk in the row finishes the entire route.

Meanwhile, Chak Phra literally means “pulling of the Buddhist monks” and it is celebrated in many southern provinces such as Nakhon Si Thammarat, Pattani, Phatthalung, Songkhla and Yala. The most impressive Chak Phra festival is on the Tapi River in Surat Thani Province. To mark this occasion, two float-pulling ceremonies are held, one on land and the other on water. On land, the splendidly adorned floats are pulled across the town by the participants of the ceremony. At the same time, on water, the ceremony is highlighted by a float decorated in colourful Thai design of a float made to carry the Buddha image. This float is then towed to the middle of the river for a religious ceremony. On the following day, the float carrying the Buddha image is towed along the river so that people can worship and make merit. Both land and river events are highly colourful. The Chak Phra festival then concludes with an exciting boat race and a traditional game.

Loy Krathong Festival in Thailand

Loy Krathong Festival in Thailand
One of the most popular festivals in early November is the Loy Krathong Festival. It takes place at a time when the weather is fine as the rainy season is over and there is a high water level all over the country.

“Loy” means “to float” and a “Krathong” is a lotus-shaped vessel made of banana leaves. The Krathong usually contains a candle, three joss-sticks, some flowers and coins.
In fact, the festival is of Brahmin origin in which people offer thanks to the Goddess of the water. Thus, by moonlight, people light the candles and joss-sticks, make a wish and launch their Krathongs on canals, rivers or even small ponds. It is believed that the Krathongs carry away sins and bad luck, and the wishes that have been made for the new year due to start. Indeed, it is the time to be joyful and happy as the sufferings are floated away.

The festival starts in the evening when there is a full moon in the sky. People of all walks of life carry their Krathongs to the nearby rivers. After lighting candles and joss-sticks and making a wish, they gently place the Krathongs on the water and let them drift away till they go out of sight.

A Beauty Queen Contest is an important part of the festival and for this occasion it is called “The Noppamas Queen Contest”. Noppamas is a legendary figure from the Sukhothai period. Old documents refer to her as the chief royal consort of a Sukhothai King named “Lithai”. Noppamas was said to have made the first decorated Krathong to float in the river on the occasion.

In Bangkok, major establishments such as leading hotels and amusement parks organise their Loy Krathong Festival and the Krathong contest as major annual function. For visitors to Thailand, the Loy Krathong Festival is an occasion not to be missed. The festival is listed in the tourist calendar. Everyone is invited to take part and share the joy and happiness.

Bangfai Rocket Festival thailand

Bangfai Rocket Festival thailand

Rocket festival or “Boon Bang Fai” in Thai is usually held in the second week of May of each year, at the beginning of the rainy season. The farmers are ready to cultivate their paddy fields. The festival is popularly celebrated in the northeastern provinces of Yasothorn and Ubon Ratchathani. The celebration is an entreaty to the rain god for plentiful rains during the coming rice planting season.

The festival itself owes its beginning to a legend that a rain god named Vassakan was known for his fascination of being worshipped with fire. To receive plentiful rains for rice cultivation, the farmers send the hope-made rockets to the heaven where the god resided. The festival has been carried out till these days.

Under the guidance of Buddhist monks, it takes the villagers weeks to make the rockets, launching platforms and other decorations. An average rocket is some nine metres in length and carries 20-25 kilogrammes of gunpowder.

In the afternoon of the festival day, rockets are carried in the procession to the launching site. Villagers dressed in colourful traditional costumes attract the eyes of the onlookers, who line up along the procession route.

Before ignition of the rockets, there will be more singing and dancing to celebrate the festival. The climax of the festival is the ignition time. One by one the rockets are fired from the launching platforms. Each liftoff is greeted by cheers and noisy music. The rocket that reaches the greatest height is the winner and the owner of this rocket will dance and urge for rewards on their way home while the owners of the rockets, that exploded or failed to fly, will be thrown into the mud. The celebration is a communual affair of the villagers who come to share joy and happiness together before heading to the paddy fields where hard work is waiting for them.

The Phi Ta Khon (Ghost Festival) in Thailand

The Phi Ta Khon(Ghost Festival) in Thailand
Phi Ta Khon is a type of masked procession celebrated on the first day of a three-day Buddhist merit-making holiday known in Thai as “Boon Pra Wate”. The annual festival takes place in *May, June or July at a small town of Dan Sai in the northeastern province of Loei.

Participants of the festival dress up like ghosts and monsters wearing huge masks made from carved coconut-tree trunks, topped with a wicker-work sticky-rice steamer. The procession is marked by a lot of music and dancing.

The precise origin of the Phi Ta khon is unclear. However, it can be traced back to a traditional Buddhist folklore. In the Buddha’s next to last life, he was the beloved Prince Vessandorn. The prince was said to go on a long trip for such a long time that his subjects forgot him and even thought that he was already dead. When he suddenly returned, his people were over-joyed. They welcomed him back with a celebration so loud that it even awoke the dead who then joined in all the fun.

From that time onward the faithful came to commemorate the event with ceremonies, celebrations and the donning of ghostly spirit masks. The reasons behind all the events is probably due to the fact that it was held to evoke the annual rains from the heavens by farmers and to bless crops.

On the second day, the villagers dance their way to the temple and fire off the usual bamboo rockets to signal the end of the procession. The festival organisers also hold contests for the best masks, costumes and dancers, and brass plaques are awarded to the winners in each age group. The most popular is the dancing contest.

Then comes the last day of the event, the villagers then gather at the local temple, Wat Ponchai, to listen to the message of the thirteen sermons of the Lord Buddha recited by the local monks.
Then it is time for the revellers to put away their ghostly masks and costumes for another year. From now on, they must again return to the paddy fields to eke out their living through rice farming as their forefathers did.

The Moon Festival in Thailand

The Moon Festival in Thailand 
The Chinese Moon Festival usually takes place on the 15th day of the eight lunar month (in September or October). The Mid-Autumn Festival is held in honour of the Moon Goddess which is believed to have been born on this date.



However, the historical fact about the origin of the festival is still unclear. Some say that the great Han dynasty emperor Wu Di initiated a three-day celebration to worship the autumn moon. Many, however, argue that the festival, in fact, originated around 1368 during the Mongol’s domination of China. The cake was made to hide a secret message of the rebellion to tell people across the country of a large gathering during the eight lunar month. The Mongol army was not aware of the rebellious purpose, they thought that the cakes were an old tradition. They, thus were defeated that night. After a new dynasty named Ming was set up, the practice has been carried on till these days.



Besides these historical facts, there are also many myths and legends, one of these is that of Siang-Ngor (Some says Chang-E) Siang-Ngor was very beautiful. She was the wife of a high-ranking Chinese officer. After taking a magic medicine, she flew up to the moon and lived there. She later became immortal after consuming the immortal water given to her by a certain Goddess in heaven. Siang-Ngor the Moon Goddess was said to be very kind. When the cultivation season arrived, she would pour immortal water to the earth and this brought prosperity to all farmers. To express their gratitude to the Moon Goddess, farmers thus made Khanom go (or sweetmeat) from rice flour as an offering to her on the full moon night of the eight lunar month.



Since chinese festivals usually involve special delicacies to be given as offerings, on this occasion, Moon cake is specially made as an offering. This Chinese delicacy is, however, hardly a cake in the western sense of the world. In Thailand, the art of Chinese style cake was brought to the country by Chinese immigrants almost 100 years ago.



The original Chinese Moon cake included such ingredients as red beans, five types of Chinese nuts and ground lotus seeds and so on. Thailand has its own variations of including durian, chestnut, and persimmon. Additional ingredients may include lotus seeds, salted egg yolk and watermelon seeds.



It is to be noted that the ceremony is usually conducted by women as people believe that the moon is uniquely associated with female diety. Thus, powder and cosmetics are also offered with the hope of bringing beauty and beautiful skin to the entire female family members.
Whatever the scientific progress may be, it will never make any impact on traditional beliefs and festivals which have been passed on from generation to generation