Shared Traditions, Unique Celebrations

The solar new year festivals in Southeast Asia have their own individualities, but, rooted in Buddhism, they share many cultural traits and symbolic traditions with each other (and to a lesser degree, the Hindu celebrations on the Indian subcontinent.) 

As the above chart indicates, official holidays typically last three or four days, though celebrations in some places can extend for weeks. The first day of the festival is typically observed as the last day of the old year. The second day is the “day of no year,” and the third day marks the start of the new year. Though traditions differ, the new year festivals are a time for families to be reunited, honor to be accorded, work to be ignored, and feasts to be consumed. And, of course, to wash away the bad of the old year and start the new year with a clean slate and fresh blessings.

Merit is a fundamental concept in Buddhist ethics. It is a beneficial and protective force which accumulates as a result of good deeds, acts, or thoughts. Not surprisingly, merit-making is an essential component of the new year celebration.

While regular work is typically shunned, people prepare for the new year by cleaning houses, schools, offices, and other public spaces. They’re joined by family members who have moved away but return to spend time with loved ones.

Families wake up early and visit Buddhist temples, where they bring food and listen to monks as they preach. Visitors sprinkle scented water over Buddha statues to represent purification and good fortune. Younger people also pour water on the hands of the elderly to show their respect and ask for blessings in the coming year.

Merit-making also includes bringing sand to the temples, which is used to replenish the sand that’s been carried away on shoes throughout the year. They build stupas (mounds) on the ground, which are then decorated with colorful flags and flowers.

In Cambodia, during Khmer New Year (Sangkranta), people erect a sand hillock on temple grounds. They mound up a big pointed hill of sand or dome in the center which represents Valuka Chaitya, the stupa at Tavatimsa where the Buddha's hair and diadem are buried. The big stupa is surrounded by four small ones, which represent the stupas of the Buddha's favorite disciples.

Celebrations include parades, beauty pageants, games, food vendors, flag ceremonies, dances, boat races, and much more. And then, of course, there are the street water fights, in whicih the celebration becomes a raucous, public street party. Young people will gather on the streets armed with buckets, water balloons, water-guns and hoses, in order to splash water on each other and all passersby to both give and receive blessings. 

Thingyan, the Burmese New Year Festival, is the oldest water festival, celebrated since the Tagaung period (1–10 AD) of Myanmar. It is celebrated over a period of four to five days, culminating in the New Year. Water-throwing or dousing one another from a vessel is the distinguishing feature of this festival. Traditionally, Thingyan involved the sprinkling of scented water in a silver bowl using sprigs of thabyay (also known as Jambul, or black plum), a practice that is still prevalent in rural areas. As with other solar new year celebrations, the sprinkling of water is intended to "wash away" one's sins of the previous year. In major cities, garden hoses, huge syringes made of bamboo, brass or plastic, water pistols and other devices are also used.

The Water-sprinkling festival is the traditional festival of the Dai, an ethnic minority of China who primarily live in southern Yunnan. The predominant religion of the Dai is Theravada Buddhism and the Water-sprinkling festival is one of the most solemn traditional festivals.

Other Solar New Year Celebrations

On the Indian subcontinent and throughout Asia where Hinduisim is commonly practiced, the solar new year of course has the same significance as it does for the Buddhist communities in Southeast Asia. 

India
The Sangken festival is celebrated in Arunachal Pradesh and parts of Assam, India, as the traditional New Year's Day from 14 to 16 April by the Theravada Buddhist Communities. Since traditions and cultures vary throughout India, not all states celebrate the new year at the same time. For many Hindus, though, the first day of Vaisakhi (also pronounced Baisakhi) — which usually occurs on April 13th, though sometimes on the 14th — marks the traditional solar new year. For example, Vaisakhi is Punjabi new year, which also celebrates the spring harvest, primarily in Northern India. Vaisakhi is also celbrated  in Assam, Bengal, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Kerala, Odisha, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Uttrakhand and other parts of India. Vaisakhi is also a very important day for Sikhs and one of the most colourful events in the Sikh calendar.

Nepal
Nepali New Year is known as Navavarsha. The Navavarsha is one of the many Nepali festivities celebrated with parades, parties, family gatherings and, of course, massive feasts. The entire country comes to life with colorful celebrations, rejoicing, and social entertainment. Navavarsha is also a day of religious importance to many. In the morning, people will typically make their way to temple to perform puja, a ritual offering presented to their gods. Nepal’s New Year is accompanied by Bisket Jatra or the Festival of Bisket in Bhaktapur.

Sri Lanka
Sinhalese New Year, known as Aluth Avurudda, begins with the cleaning of the house and lighting of an oil lamp. In some communities, women congregate to play a drum to announce the change in the year. Families carry out a variety of rituals, the exact timings of which are determined by astrological calculations — from lighting a fire to making milk rice to eating the first morsels of food. The rituals vary based on the locale. though the core of the celebration is the same. Additionally, the approach of each auspicious time for the various rituals is heralded by loud firecrackers. Once the important rituals are done, the partying begins as families mingle in the streets, homes are thrown open, and children are let out to play. Plantain is dished out alongside celebratory feasts of Kavum (small oil cake) and Kokis (crisp and light sweetmeat, originally from the Netherlands.