In the middle of April the three-day Songkran or 'water festival' celebrater the start of the Thai lunar new year. Songkran, from the Sanskrit samkranta (fully passed over), signifies the passage of the sun from the sign of Pisces into the sign of Aries in the zodiac. All of Thailand observes this festival, but it is celebrated with particular fervour in Chiang Mai, where people turn out into the streets by the thousands to douse one another with water.
On a spiritual level, the Thai traditionally believe that during this period the old Songkran spirit and the new one arrives. On the first day of the festival, when the old spirit departs, believers give their homes a thorough cleaning. At various wat throughout the city people gather in the morning to build and decorate miniature sand stupas for good luck.
Shop owners will erect
pratuu sa-wan or 'heaver gates' -mock doorways made from coconut stems, banana leaves and banana tree trunks-in front of their shops to welcome the Songkran spirit. This is also where shop staff, friends and family will gather with barrels of water in which they dip buckets, bowls or water guns for dousing all passers-by. By 9am the water mayhem in the streets has begun in earnest. The streets bordering the city moats are the largest focus, with throngs of people using water-guns, buckets and even plastic cups to make sure every moving object in sight is thoroughly soaked.
On the second day civic groups mount a colourful parade down Thnon Ratchadamnoen and Thnon Tha Phae, as the sacred Buddha image from Wat Phra Sing is carried on a flower-bedecked float from the temple to the river. Thais gather along both sides of these streets to participate in a ritual cleansing of the image by tossing bowls of water-ofter scented with jasmine flowers-over the float.
The third day is considered especially crucial and cleansing rituals extend to the bathing of buddha images at local wat by pouring water onto them. In the older Northern Thai temples such as Wat Chiang Man, the water is delivered through naga-ornamented wooden sluice pipes on raised stands. Senior monks receive a similar treatment, and younger Thai will also pour water over the hands (palms held together) of their elderly relatives in a gesture of respect. Unless you were to enter a wat, you might not have a clue that any religious activity was taking place, since out in the streets the water-fighting action remains constant.
Although the true meaning of the festival is kept alive by ceremonies held inside wat grounds, Songkran nowadays is mainly a festival of fun and a way for locals to literally cool off during the hottest month of the year. Foreigners are not exempt from the soaking, and it's pretty much useless trying to stay dry in Chiang Mai during Songkran unless you never leave your room. The best way to enjoy a Chiang Mai Songkran is to grab a bucket, get out in the streets and join the fun.
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