Songkran

Songkran is the New Year festival in Thailand, officially observed for three days, April 13 - 15, but actually the celebration usually lasts the entire week. 

The word songkran comes from the Sanskrit, meaning "to pass or move into", referring to the passing and moving of the sun from one sign of the Zodiac to another (but it's also taken to mean "moving forward into a better life"). There are in fact twelve Songkrans each year, but this Songkran (sometimes called the Great Songkran) is when the sun enters the sign of Aries the Ram, always near to the vernal equinox.

April is the hottest month of the year in Thailand, and maybe that is why water is a theme for this festival. All statues of the Buddha are ceremonially washed, and then the entire country participates in friendly water fights and street parties that last nearly a week. 

Agenda Today:
1. Clean house
2. Make resolutions
3. Connect with Family
4. Build a sand pagoda
5. Water play
6. Make Thong Yod (Golden Egg Drops)

1. Clean house:

Songkran is a time for spring cleaning, both physically and spiritually. On the physical side, people clean their houses, and throw out anything old or useless, especially anything that has brought bad luck in the past year.

Today is our annual Friends Meeting work party, to clean the windows and the benches, plant flowers, and repair things, so that's where I will be!

2. Make resolutions:
On the spiritual side, some Thai people make New Year resolutions today.

I will take time to review my resolutions from January 1 (what are they? Oh yeah...) and renew my resolve.

3. Connect with Family:

During Songkran, most offices, banks, small shops, and restaurants in Thailand shut down completely, because many people travel back to their home towns for family reunions.

Traditionally, Thais perform the Rod Nam Dum Hua ritual on the first day of Songkran, which is also National Elderly Day:  Young people pour perfumed water into their elders’ palms as a gesture of humility and to ask for their blessings.

The second day of Songkran is National Family Day. Families wake up early and give alms to the monks, then spend the rest of the day together.

It's such a gift to have both my children living in town! We had a wonderful potluck meal together yesterday, but did not pour any perfumed water.

4. Build a sand pagoda:
It became a tradition, also, at Songkran, to bring bowls of sand to the temple, to replace what you might have accidentally carried away on the bottom of your shoes. People then used the sand to build sand pagodas in the temple courtyard to make merit. 

This evolved into a big sand pagoda competition, so now the temple orders a truckload of sand and the monks make piles of sand in the courtyard, and the people of the town come to build beautiful sand pagodas- some quite plain and some with crenelations and steps carved into them. The monks prepare candles, joss sticks, flowers and flags, and the people give the temple a donation to use them to decorate their sand pagodas.

Once finished, all of the family members will light joss sticks and then squat down to say a short prayer. The pagoda is then sprayed with scented water.

Last year I had an art class at Songkran, and we made this beautiful sand pagoda together!

Supplies: Bag of sand, spray bottles, skewers, tissue paper, glue sticks, flowers

1. I bought a bag of medium construction sand that had about the same texture as sea sand without the salt. We dumped it out on a tarp in the back yard, and sprayed it with water.

2. We made flags with tissue paper glued to wooden skewers.

3. We looked at photos of sand pagodas to get the idea, then built our pagoda together, working as a team.

4. We added our flags and flowers.

Sand Pagoda from 2018

5. Water play:

The most famous aspect of the Songkran celebrations is the water fights. It originated from using the 'blessed' water that cleaned the images of Buddha to soak other people, which was a way of paying respect and bringing good fortune.

Nowadays Thais walk the streets with containers of water or water guns, or stand at the side of roads with a hose and soak any one who passes by.

Last year we had a water fight with spray bottles- pretty tame by Thai standards but it was really not very warm here.

6. Make Thong Yod (Golden Egg Drops):
Thong Yod is an ancient Thai dessert, served now to symbolically wish wealth and treasure for everyone in the New Year.

Ingredients:

• 2-1/2 c. powdered sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1/8-c. wheat flour
• 1/8 c. rice flour

1. Make a sugar syrup with the powdered sugar and 2 c. water. Heat to boiling in a medium pot.

2. Separate the egg yolks. Blend them for 15 minutes, until thick and fluffy. Add the flours and mix well.


3. Using your fingers, gather and drop small balls of the mixture into the boiling syrup to make small droplets. Do this until the pan is full. (If the syrup is too thick, add a little water.) Cook until soft inside and golden outside. 

4. Remove the drops to a bowl with a small amount of syrup and cool in the refrigerator.