Songkran Costumes - Water Fest Holiday Bangkok Thailand

 Songkran is in Thailand  the traditional New Year's Day from 13 to 15 April. Songkran has traditionally been celebrated as the New Year for many centuries, and is believed to have been adapted from an Indian festival. In Chiang Mai Songkran continues for 6 days or even longer. The beauty of Songkran is splashing with water anybody that comes across your path. It can be old man, woman, children. You just spray them, or pour a bucket of water over their head. 

​That is the beauty of Songkran. Thais roam the streets with containers of water or water guns (sometimes mixed with mentholated talc) so they are white all over their bodies. 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. 

The throwing of water originated as a way to pay respect to people, by capturing the water after it had been poured over the Buddhas for cleansing and then using this "blessed" water to give good fortune to elders and family by gently pouring it on the shoulder. Among young people the holiday evolved to include dousing strangers with water to relieve the heat, since April is the hottest month in Thailand (temperatures can rise to over 100°F or 40°C on some days). This has further evolved into water fights and splashing water over people riding in vehicles.

​Here are few pictures my girlfriend and her friend took at work. They dress like that each year in the time of Songkran. They look beautiful I think. What do you think? Leave some comments below.