How is the Thai New Year. Amazing Thailand.

In many eastern countries, in addition to the usual January 1st New Year, we also celebrate the national one. Thailand is no exception in this regard. Residents love the local New Year holiday and call it Songkran. The celebration begins in April and is accompanied by vivid carnival processions and impressive music parades.

However, the most important fun is different. The fact is that Songkran can actually be called the most massive annual "water battle" in the world. People take to the streets, always taking a bucket of water with them. Meeting a passerby, they pour water on him, congratulating them on the New Year.

In the old days, it was decided on New Year's Day to sprinkle senior members of the family and monks with blessed water, thus blessing them. Now this tradition has changed a lot: random passers-by pour over each other from barrels and water pistols. In our culture, a similar custom exists during the celebration of Ivan Kupala Day, only on a much smaller scale.

Songkran is rooted in the deep past when the Thai lunar calendar began in April. Subsequently, the great king Rama V (1868-1910) came to the conclusion that for the country's cooperation with the West it was necessary to unify the calendar.

So, officially the change of year was postponed to January 1, but the chronology was still kept according to Buddhist chronology. Since it begins on the day of the death of the Buddha and is 543 years older than the Christian, in Thailand now is 2551.

During the celebration of the Thai New Year, water is considered a symbol of the essence of all living things. Therefore, they try to spray it as much as possible so that the blessed moisture can bring grace to everyone.

There are cities in the country where holidays are held with the participation of elephants. Such a custom, for example, is preserved in the ancient city of Ayutthaya, which is 70 kilometers from Bangkok. Animals are specially dressed up and painted in the brightest colors. Elephants also participate in universal fun and water people directly from their trunks.