Thingyan definition of Thingyan in the Free Online Encyclopedia.

Thingyan

Mid-April; during Burmese month of Tagu

The three-day feast of the New Year in Burma (now officially called Myanmar) is also known as the Water Festival because of the custom of throwing or squirting water on others. The festival has been traditional for centuries; King Narathihapate (1254-1287) built enclosed corridors running from his palace to the banks of the Irrawaddy River; inside them he and his courtiers reveled in water throwing.
During the celebration, pots of clear cold water are offered to monks at monasteries to wash or sprinkle images of Buddha. Everyone else gets drenched; young men and women roam the streets dousing everybody with buckets of water or turning hoses on them. On the final day, the traditional Burmese New Year, birds and fish are set free, and young people wash the hair of their elders. The water-splashing custom originated with the idea that through this ritual the bad luck and sins of the old year were washed away. Now splashing people is more a frolicsome thing to do and also a way of cooling off. This is the hottest time of year in Burma, and temperatures can sizzle above 100 degrees.
See also Lunar New Year and Songkran

CONTACTS:
Embassy of the Union of Myanmar
2300 S St. N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20008
202-332-3344; fax: 202-332-4351
www.mewashingtondc.com

SOURCES:
BkHolWrld-1986, Apr 13
DictFolkMyth-1984, pp. 913, 1108
FolkWrldHol-1999, p. 291

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No references found	Revellers in the main city Yangon dyed their hair an array of dazzling colours and cocked their water pistols to celebrate the annual Thingyan water festival -- the only opportunity the government allows them to assemble freely. Myanmar celebrates festival with splash of freedom by AFP / AFP Asian Edition Revellers in the main city Yangon dyed their hair an array of dazzling colours and cocked their water pistols to celebrate the annual Thingyan water festival -- the only opportunity the government allows them to assemble freely. Myanmar celebrates festival with splash of freedom by AFP / AFP Global Edition In repressive Burma, the festival of Thingyan or New Year is the only time residents can let their hair down, dousing each other with water pistols as temperatures soar. Come play water pistols, the colonel said. It'll be fun by guardian.co.uk / guardian.co.uk	thin-film material thin-film memory thin-film resistor thin-film semiconductor thin-film solar cell thin-film storage thin-film transducer thin-film transistor thin-layer chromatography thin-out thin-plate orifice thin-set thin-set terrazzo thin-shell concrete thin-shell precast thin-skinned structure thin-wall conduit Thin-Walled Bar Thin-Walled Structures Thing Thing Addams Thing-in-Itself ThingLab Thingvallavatn Thingvellir Thingyan Think C think tank think time Thinker, The Thinking Thinking Machines Corporation thinko ThinkPad Thinner Thinness ThinNet Thinning of Sprouts thinning ratio Thinocoridae Thio Acid thio- thioacetamide thioacetic acid thioaldehyde Thiobacillus ferrooxidans Thiobacteriaceae thiobarbiturate thiobarbituric acid thiocarbamazine thiocarbamide	Things They Left Out Things to Blog About Things To Do Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead Things Turn Sour Things We Lost in the Fire Things We Said Today Things will work out Things will work out for the best Things You Should Do Things, Actions, Remedies, People, Places things-in-themselves things-in-themselves Things-to-Things Research Center thingumabob thingumabobs thingumajig thingumajigs thingumbob thingummies thingummy thingummybob Thingvallavatn Thingvellir thingy Thingyan Thinhorn Sheep Thinhorn Sheep Thinis Thinis, Egypt think think think think think think think a great deal of think a lot of think about think about think about think about Think About It Think About That Think About the Scene Think About You THINK AGAIN think ahead think ahead think ahead of time Think and Link think anxiously think are God's gift to women Think Attack think back think back

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Revellers in the main city Yangon dyed their hair an array of dazzling colours and cocked their water pistols to celebrate the annual Thingyan water festival -- the only opportunity the government allows them to assemble freely.

Myanmar celebrates festival with splash of freedom by AFP / AFP Asian Edition

Myanmar celebrates festival with splash of freedom by AFP / AFP Global Edition

In repressive Burma, the festival of Thingyan or New Year is the only time residents can let their hair down, dousing each other with water pistols as temperatures soar.

Come play water pistols, the colonel said. It'll be fun by guardian.co.uk / guardian.co.uk