Songkran: Difference between revisions

{{Short description|Traditional Buddhist new year in parts of Asia}}

{{Multiple issues|

{{Disputed|date=October 2017}}

{{Infobox holiday

| holiday_name = Songkran

|bullets=yes

|title=Regional names

|သင်္ကြန် ([[Burmese language|Burmese]])

|ປີໃໝ່ ([[Lao language|Lao]])

|泼水节 ([[Mandarin Chinese|Mandarin]])

|संक्रांति ([[Sanskrit]])

|අලුත් අවුරුද්ද ([[Sinhalese language|Sinhalese]])

}}

| nickname = Southeast Asian New Year

| litcolor =

| longtype =

}}

 

 

== Etymology ==

* The Siam Society Under Royal Patronage. "No. IV. The "Toa Songkrant". ตัวสงกรานต์", ''The Journal of the Siam Society'', Vol. 10., 1935. p. 63. "about the time of the Songkrant, that is March and April, for Songkrant in Siam falls on the 13th April."</ref> is a contractive form of Sangkran (sim kranti), which itself is a [[loanword]]<ref>Kingkham, W. (2001). ''Phasa Thai thin'' [Thai dialects, ภาษาไทยถิ่น (in Thai)]. Bangkok: Kasetsart University. 281 pp. p. 23. {{ISBN|978-974-9-93471-5}}</ref><ref>Buapanngam, S. "''Influences of Pali-Sanskrit loanwords on Thai''", [https://so05.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/huru/article/view/64283 Ramkhamhaeng University Journal, 35(1)(January-June 2016)]:105–122.</ref> from [[Sanskrit]] ''{{IAST|[[saṅkrānti]]}}'' (or, more specifically, ''{{IAST|meṣha saṅkrānti}}'')<ref>Sir W. M. Jones, Asiatic Society (Kolkata, India). (1869). "The Adjustment of the Hindu Calendar; by Babu Pratapachandra Ghosha.", ''Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal Vol. XXXVII (Part II.–Physical Sciense, No. IV.–1868)''. Kolkata, India: Asiatic Society of Bengal. p. 188.

* SEWELL, R., Gustav Schram, R., and Sankara Balkrishna Dikshit. (1896). "Years and Cycles", ''The Indian Calendar with Tables for the Conversion of Hindu and Muhammadan into A.D. Dates, and vice versa''. LONDON: Swan Sonnenschein & Co., Ltd. 169 pp. pp. 9, 25–31.

 

[[Oxford English Dictionary]] defines ''Songkran'' as "The festival of the Thai New Year, characterized by various observances involving the pouring or splashing of water (1727–present.)".<ref>[https://www.oed.com/dictionary/songkran_n?tab=meaning_and_use#190072726 "Songkran"]. (noun) in Oxford English Dictionary (Online). Retrieved on 17 April 2024.</ref> Term has also entered other languages, such as {{lang-fr|La fête du Songkran}},<ref>DE FELS, JACQUELINE. (1993). Promotion de la littérature en Thaïlande vers les prix littéraires (1882-1982). Paris: INALCO. p. 620.</ref> {{lang-nl|Sonkraen}},<ref>Erdmann H. J. and Kaempfer E. (1977). Southeast Asia and the Germans. Tübingen, Basel: Erdmann. p. 21. {{ISBN|978-377-1-10287-6}}</ref> {{lang-ja|ソンクラーン}},<ref>Aoyagi, Machiko. (2003). 「''『文化交流学を拓く』 (Bunka Koryugaku o Hiraku)」''. Kyoto-shi: Sekai Shisousha. p. 80. {{ISBN|978-479-0-70982-4}}</ref> {{lang-zh|宋干节}}<ref>He, Tian, Fang Ye, Zhou and Institute of Asia-Pacific and Global Strategy, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. (2016). 「''『第一章、 概 览』、 泰国 (Thailand)」''. Beijing: Social Sciences Literature Press Liguozhi Publishing Center. p. 51. {{ISBN|978-750-9-78859-2}}</ref> and {{lang-ko|송끄란}}.<ref>Dodd S.J. and Techaikovskaya. (2015). ''「세계의 가장 놀라운 축제들」 The World's Most Astonshing Festivals''. (Translated by Kim Ji-eun). Paju, South Korea: Darakwon. p. 82. {{ISBN|978-892-7-75051-2}}</ref>

* '''Songkaan''' ([[Phu Thai language|Southwestern Tai (Phu Thai)]] and central Laos).<ref>Khanittanan, W. (1977). Phasa Phu Thai (Phu Thai language) [ภาษาผู้ไท (in Thai). Bangkok: Thammasat University. 109 pp. p. 97.</ref><ref>Ong Bunjoon. "Khang sumrub Laos: Khwam mai thong tak tang ra wang sumrub chao baan khup shao wang", Silpa Wattanatham, 42(1), (November 2020):57.</ref>

* '''Sangkran''' ([[Mon people|Mon]], [[Lan Na|Lanna-Thai]], Thai-Ramanna, [[Khmer people|Khmer]], and [[Tai peoples]] in [[Northeast India]].)<ref name=":4"/><ref>Tandart, S. (1910). ''Dictionnaire Français-Cambodgien Vol. I''. Paris: Société des Missions-Etrangèrs de Paris. 2,242 pp. p. 63.</ref><ref name="poeng-songkran"/>

* '''Sangken'''<ref name=":4">Kamarupa Anusandhana Samiti. ''Journal of the Assam Research Society'', Vol. 38, 2007. p. 76. {{ISSN|2349-7459}}. "Tai New Year’s festival or Water spraying festival commence from the day of sangken or sangkran or sankranti. The day is open on the first full moon of April."</ref> found in archive of ''[[Kamarupa Anusandhan Samiti]]'' (Assam Research Society) recorded by the oldest Research institution in North-East [[India]] mentions the Tai New Year’s festival or Water spraying festival of [[Tai peoples]] in [[Northeast India]].

* '''Songkrant tai''' or '''Xadasite Songkrant''' (Siam Basu in Siamese Astronomical System), recorded by Sir [[John Bowring]].<ref>[[John Bowring|Bowring, J.]] (2005). ''The King of Siam : Sir John Bowring''. (Translated by Charnvit Kasetsiri and Kanthika Sriudom of Foundation for the Promotion of Social Science and Humanities). Bangkok: Toyota Thailand Foundation. 463 pp. {{ISBN|978-974-9-36477-2}}. p. 6. "...16th year of our reign is in Siamese Astronomical System called in Siam Basu Songkrant tai or in sansckrit Xadasite songkrant i.e. the sun's diameter being largest, ..."</ref>

* Stone Inscription of Wat Phra That Choeng Chum<ref>[https://db.sac.or.th/inscriptions/inscribe/detail/433 จารึกวัดพระธาตุเชิงชุม]. Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre, Thailand. 13 Feb 2007. Retrieved 18 April 2024.</ref> (S.N.2, K.369) 1000-1100 CE, [[Sakon Nakhon province]], written as '''Kranti''', meaning of Songkran. (Read and translated by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Santi Pakdekham, Ph.D.).<ref>The [[Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre]] (SAC). (2007). ''Inscriptions: Wat Phra That Choeng Chum, Epigraph Line 11''. Bangkok: SAC. cited in ''Inscriptions in Thailand Database Project Staffs'' (2555 B.E.), SAC., and ''Khom Script, 15th-16th Buddhist century''. Bangkok: The National Library of Thailand, NLT, 2529, pp. 284-286. "จำมลกฺรานฺต นุ ชา ปี ทุกฺ นา องฺคุยฺ". (Epigraph), "แด่สงกรานต์ และไว้ประจำแก่". (Translation).</ref>

 

 

[[Étienne Aymonier]] also distinguished the difference of the term ''Maha Sankran'' in Cambodia that only refers to the small official calendar which must appear for the new year, while in Siam (Thailand) which refers to the beginning of New year, Siamese called ''Sankranta'', which pronounced as ''Songkran''.<ref name="aymonier-1904"/>

Songkran celebrations often occur in cities which host large [[Sri Lankan Americans|Sri Lankan]], [[Thai Americans|Thai]], [[Burmese Americans|Burmese]], [[Laotian Americans|Laotian]] and [[Cambodian Americans|Cambodian]] populations. The UW Khmer Student Association hosts a new year celebration at the [[University of Washington]] in [[Seattle]]. The White Center Cambodian New Year Street Festival is held at the Golden House Bakery & Deli in Seattle.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ethnicseattle.com/2016/04/12/5920/|title=April Marks The New Year For Southeast Asians|first=Kae|last=Saeteurn|date=12 April 2016|website=Ethnicseattle.com|accessdate=7 January 2019}}</ref> The Los Angeles Buddhist Vihara in [[Pasadena, California]] celebrates the Songkran festival with a focus on the Sri Lankan New Year. The Brahma Vihara in [[Azusa, California]] also holds celebrations with a Burmese New Year focus.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wisdomquarterly.blogspot.com/2013/04/happy-southeast-asian-buddhist-new-year.html|title=Wisdom Quarterly: American Buddhist Journal: Happy Southeast Asian Buddhist New Year!|date=13 April 2013|website=Wisdomquarterly.blogspot.com|accessdate=7 January 2019}}</ref> The International Lao New Year Festival is held annually in [[San Francisco]] and celebrates the Lao New Year with acknowledgment of other Asian communities, Thai, Cambodian, Burmese, Sri Lankan and the Dai people of southern China, who also celebrate the same festival.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.laonewyear.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=30&Itemid=48 |title=International Lao New Year Festival - About ILNYF |access-date=2017-01-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170102171741/http://www.laonewyear.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=30&Itemid=48 |archive-date=2017-01-02 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In February 2015, the [[Freer Gallery of Art|Freer and Sackler]] gallery in [[Washington D.C.]] held a Lunar New Year event celebrating the "[[Goat (zodiac)|Year of the Sheep]]" which also celebrated the Lunar New Year that occurs in mid-April for many other Asian countries. It included activities, information and food from China, Korea, Mongolia, Sri Lanka and other Asian countries that celebrated either of the two new year celebrations.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://bento.si.edu/from-the-collections/chinese-art/celebrate-the-lunar-new-year-at-freersackler/|title=Celebrate the Lunar New Year at Freer-Sackler|website=Bento.si.edu|accessdate=7 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171024001734/https://bento.si.edu/from-the-collections/chinese-art/celebrate-the-lunar-new-year-at-freersackler/|archive-date=24 October 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> Similarly in 2016, [[Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience|The Wing]] in [[Seattle]] held a Lunar New Year celebration centered around the East Asian Lunar New Year however also focused on New Year customs in Laos as part of its "New Years All Year Round" exhibit.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wingluke.org/familyprograms|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170102093145/http://www.wingluke.org/familyprograms|url-status=dead|archive-date=2 January 2017|title=Family Programs > Wing Luke Museum|date=2 January 2017|accessdate=7 January 2019}}</ref>

 

{{Blockquote|text=Songkran is Thailand's most famous festival; this water festival marks the beginning of the traditional Thai New Year<ref>"[https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2023/K1059 Commemorating the Asian American community's celebration of Songkran on April]". Assembly Resolution No. 1059. (2023-K1059). ''The New York State Senate''. Retrieved on 19 April 2024.</ref>

|author=The legislative assembly of New York State

|source=Assembly Resolution No. 1059, The [[New York State Senate]]. (April 2, 2024).}}

 

==See also==

* [[Water Festival]], a tradition practiced during certain Songkran celebrations

* [[Thai calendar]]

 

==References==

[[Category:Religious festivals in Cambodia]]

[[Category:April observances]]