New Year in Southeast Asia
April 13 to 16 is a time of traditional New Year celebrated in several Theravada Buddhist areas of Southeast Asia.
Songkran
The Songkran festival is celebrated in Thailand as the traditional New Year's Day from April 13 to 15.
The date of the festival was originally set by astrological calculation, but it is now fixed. Songkran falls in the hottest time of the year in Thailand, at the end of the dry season.
Songkran has traditionally been celebrated as the New Year for many centuries, and is believed to have been adapted from an Indian festival. It is observed nationwide but the most famous Songkran celebrations are in the northern city of Chiang Mai, where it continues for six days and even longer. It has also become a party for foreigners and an additional reason for many to visit Thailand for immersion in another culture.
The most obvious celebration of Songkran is the throwing of water. Thais roam the streets with containers of water or water guns, or post themselves at the side of roads with a garden hose and drench each other and passersby. This, however, was not always the main activity of this festival. Songkran was traditionally a time to visit and pay respects to elders, including family members, friends, neighbors, and monks. The Songkran festival is counted as a new life.
Besides the throwing of water, people celebrating Songkran as a Buddhist festival may also go to a wat (Buddhist monastery) to pray and give food to monks. They may also cleanse Buddha images from household shrines as well as Buddha images at monasteries by gently pouring water mixed with a Thai fragrance over them. It is believed that doing this will bring good luck and prosperity for the New Year.
Thingyan
Thingyan is the Burmese New Year Water Festival and usually falls around mid-April. It is a Buddhist festival celebrated over a period of four to five days culminating in the new year. Formerly the dates of the Thingyan festival are calculated according to the traditional Burmese lunisolar calendar, but now fixed to Gregorian calendar April 13 to 16. Water-throwing or dousing one another from any shape or form of vessel or device that delivers water is the distinguishing feature of this festival and may be done on the first four days of the festival. However, in most parts of the country, it does not begin in earnest until the second day.
Chaul Chnam Thmey
Cambodian New Year or Chaul Chnam Thmey, literally "Enter New Year", is the name of the Cambodian holiday that celebrates the New Year. The holiday lasts for three days beginning on New Year's Day, which usually falls on April 13 or 14, which is the end of the harvesting season, when farmers enjoy the fruits of their labor before the rainy season begins.
Aluth Avurudda
Sinhalese New Year, generally known as Aluth Avurudda in Sri Lanka, is the new year of the Sinhalese people in Sri Lanka and is a public holiday in Sri Lanka. It is generally celebrated on April 13 or 14. According to Sinhalese astrology, New Year begins when the sun moves from Meena Rashiya (the house of Aries) to Mesha Rashiya. It also marks the end of the harvest and spring.