Elephants spray water to welcome visitors on Songkran New Year festival in Thailand (Photo: Xinhua/VNA)
Hanoi (VNA)ꦓ – People across Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Myanmar are eager to herald their traditional New Year festivals according to the Buddhist calendar.
During the Bunpimay celebration, Lao locals offer rice to Buddhist monks to pray for luck and health. Other activities include Buddha bathing, water splashing, and culture and art performances.
Meanwhile, Cambodians decorate their homes to welcome the Chol Chnam Thmay festival, a golden occasion for family gatherings. They also offer rice to Buddhist monks, build sand mountains to erase sins, and organise Buddha bathing ceremonies and folk games.
Elsewhere in Thailand, people are busy decorating their houses to ring in the New Year - Songkran. Buddhist worship and animal release form parts of the festival. People from all walks of life splash water to pray for good luck and wash away bad luck from the old year.
During the Thingyan celebration, people in Myanmar hold a number of activities such as bathing the Buddha at home, worshipping the Buddha, offering rice to Buddhist monks, splashing water and dancing.-VNA
The Cambodian, Lao, Thai and Myanmar communities gathered at a festival in Ho Chi Minh City on April 11 to celebrate their traditional New Years - the Chol Chnam Thmay, Bunpimay, Thingyan and Songkran.
Thai police on April 11 said that it has stepped up security measures on Koh Samui Island to prepare for the country’s traditional Songkran water festival.
A large number of domestic and foreign tourists have flocked to the well-known tourism sites in Cambodia on the occasion of Chol Chnam Thmay New Year festival, reported local media.
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Elephants spray water to welcome visitors on Songkran New Year festival in Thailand (Photo: Xinhua/VNA)
