What to Expect at Thailand’s Songkran Festival
The Songkran Festival, also known as the Golden Season festival, is a national event celebrated in Thailand under the reign of King Rama III. It is one of Thailand’s most awaited events and highlights the spirit of love and brotherhood amongst all Thailand people. The Songkran Festival celebrates the Buddhist monasteries before Buddha became the king. It is also understood as the Songkran Festival or the Great Teacher Festival.
The Songkran Festival celebrates a long-time tradition of celebrating the happiness and joy of the Thais. On this day, Thailand is famous for its Songkran Festival, which is considered the national festival of Thailand by many tourists. The Songkran Festival is celebrated at the end of July or early August when the weather is just right. This is when the rice fields are plucked, and the Buddhist monks get together to eat lotus. They then throw silk lanterns at each other and have music, dance, and celebration. Some Buddhist temples hold entire ceremonies and celebrations lasting up to a week.
Vigor and Enthusiasm
The Buddhist Monks celebrate the Songkran festival with vigor and enthusiasm throughout Thailand. Many Thais gather at their religious temples and pay tribute to Buddha, the holy Gautama Buddha. The main event of the Songkran Festival is a massive party organized by the local temples and other Buddhist establishments throughout Thailand.
Tourists from all over the globe come to Thailand in April to celebrate the Songkran Festival. They visit various temples of Bangkok and other major cities like Phuket, Pattaya, Krabi, Samui, Hua Hin, Chiang Mai, and Songtarn, where they get lots of beautiful plum blossom pictures. The local artists take these pictures from nearby villages and towns. The local artists, in turn, take the images to Phuket and other cities in Thailand for using them in the decorations of the pagodas and temple walls. The flower arrangements in these places add color to the ambiance.
During April, numerous other activities are celebrated in Thailand –from funfairs to sports competitions and from Thai boxing to water sports. Apart from the traditional festivities conducted all over the country, another important event is also featured on the calendar of April – the Songkran Festival.
Thailand Get Together to Celebrate
This is when the people of Thailand get together to celebrate and meditate. Some places where you can find the most beautiful and vibrant colors include the Grand Palace, Wat Chalong, Wat Pho, and many more. People come to sing and dance in the nighttime and take part in the many activities organized by the organizers of the Songkran Festival throughout the Kingdom of Thailand.
Although the main highlight of the Songkran Festival is the actual day of celebration, other events may excite your interests even more. Many travelers come to Thailand to watch the spectacular sunset in April. You will find it extremely easy to locate many hotels and guesthouses with private pools at the Songkran Festival. There are various water sports activities which you can take part in during the Songkran Festival, and some of them are:
The Celebrations are Extraordinary
Although the grandeur and the celebrations are extraordinary, they do not seem as exciting as they did back in the olden times. However, you need not be a person who has lived in Thailand for the last twenty years to understand the true essence of the Songkran Festival. When Thai people celebrate the New Year, it is actually in January. This is because the lunar month of January falls on a Saturday. During this time, many temples, monasteries, and villas were constructed. The Thais also believe that the spirits of their ancestors gather at this time of the year, and they offer prayers to the Buddha for his well-being and the happiness of the new year.
The Songkran Festival in Thailand is a time of joy and Entertainment for the Thais; however, they do not like dirty shoes, loud music, and unnecessary noise. For this reason, you will notice that the sound of celebration is far softer than it used to be when the old temples were in use. You can hear much more of the native Thai speech throughout the festivities. Throughout the Songkran Festival, you will see a lot of Buddhist symbols being displayed all over towns and villages, and you might even be able to catch a glimpse of the golden Buddha statue.