Thingyan is the Burmese New Year Water Festival and usually falls around mid-April. It is a Buddhist festival celebrated over a period of four to five days culminating in the new year.

The dates of the festival are observed as the most important public holiday throughout Burma and are part of the summer holidays at the end of the school year. Water-throwing or dousing one another from any shape or form of vessel or device that delivers water is the distinguishing feature of this festival and may be done on the first four days of the festival. Thingyan is comparable to other new year festivities in Theravada Buddhist areas of Southeast Asia such as Lao New Year, Cambodian New Year and Songkran in Thailand.

The eve of Thingyan, the first day of the festival called is the start of a variety of religious activities. Buddhists are expected to observe the Eight Precepts, more than the basic Five Precepts, including having only one meal before noon. By nightfall, the real fun begins with music, song and dance, merrymaking and general gaiety in anticipation of the water festival.

The next day is when Thingyan truly arrives. At a given signal, a cannon is fired and people come out with pots of water and pour the it onto the ground with a prayer. A prophesy for the new year will have been announced.

Today, During the Water Festival, the Myanmar government relaxes the usual restrictions on gatherings. Temporary water-spraying stations, known as pandals are set up, and double as dance floors. Many of these pavilions are sponsored by rich and powerful families and businesses.

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