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For the water splashing festival celebrated in China, see Water-Sprinkling Festival.
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A Rakhine girl pours water at revelers during Myanmar New Year Thingyan Water Festival in Yangon, Myanmar in 2011.
Water festivals are vibrant celebrations that occur across the globe, often marking the start of a new year or season. These festivals are deeply rooted in cultural and religious traditions, and they showcase the importance of water as a life-giving resource. In Asia, countries like Thailand[1], Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia, and the Xishuangbanna Prefecture region of China celebrate their respective new years with lively water festivals such as Songkran, Bunpimay, Thingyan, and Chaul Chnam Thmey. These festivities involve the joyous splashing of water, symbolizing purification and renewal. Beyond Southeast Asia and China, other countries have their own unique water-themed celebrations, from the Holi festival of colors in India to the Water Battle of Spain. These festivals serve as a reminder of the universal significance of water in our lives and our connection to it.
For most Southeast Asian cultures, the festivities are a part of the broader South and Southeast Asian solar New Year and is called the 'Water Festival' by tourists because they notice people splashing or pouring water at one another as part of the cleansing ritual to welcome the Songkran New Year. Traditionally, people gently sprinkled water on one another as a sign of respect, but as the new year falls during the hottest month in South East Asia, many people end up dousing strangers and passers-by in vehicles in boisterous celebration. The act of pouring water is also a show of blessings and good wishes. It is believed that at this Water Festival, everything old must be thrown away, or it will bring the owner bad luck.[2]
^Symons, Angela (2024). "What is Songkran? Everything you need to know about Thailand's wet and wild New Year celebrations".
^Lu, Hsin-chun Tasaw (2008). "Negotiating Ethnicity: Burmese Chinese Migrants in Taiwan". Journal of Burma Studies. 12: 29–62. doi:10.1353/jbs.2008.0001. S2CID 154656569.
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