Water festival (Thingyan) in Mandalay in 2015
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"Myanmar Thingyan - Today and Then"
Thuzar Winn
December 2015
Most tourists visit Myanmar during the cool season. They miss the biggest festival of Myanmar, the Water Festival, the festival of ushering the new year, which falls in April in the midst of the hot season which can be scorching hot! But the water of Thingyan - as you can see on the photos - is cooling everybody who considers it washing away the sins of the old year.
Splashing water on each other cordially and jovially, roaming the town in open roof vehicles in groups greeting, teasing and shrieking at each other buoyantly, high-spirited hosts of water pandals (water stations) soaking and drenching noisy revellers in the open vehicles with water jets from an array of high-power hoses, dainty Myanmar belles in glam costumes wearing yellow Badauk flowers elaborately in their hair and dancing in unison on an open stage, sparky youngsters chanting and dancing to the upbeat Thingyan music from the stages where music and film stars are performing exuberantly – these are the scenes of the water festival we witnessed and experienced in Mandalay, also the typical scenario of Myanmar's New Year Festival in the recent years.
‘Thingyan’, which is how this most celebrated festival is called in Burmese, has been a time-honoured festive event for hundreds of years ever since the era of Bagan Dynasty. Once the hot season starts by the end of February, everyone would look forward to the festival week which is from 13 April to 17 April. Months before the festival you would already hear Thingyan traditional songs and hits echoed with the typical Thingyan beat of the classic drum everywhere from a roadside tea café to a bustling shopping mall. Some Thingyan classics and hits are covered or remade by many popstars every year as Thingyan lovers never tire of them. Thingyan music gives everyone the cheery spirit of the festival which arrives every year with the sweet fragrance of golden Badauk flowers prevailing in the air of April or 'Tagu', the first month of the Myanmar lunisolar calendar.
On the day we arrived in Mandalay, 13 April 2015, the eve of the festival, or ‘the Day of Ushering’, the city was already vibrant and enveloped in the atmosphere of Thingyan. We saw a few big stages richly decorated and a number of water stations all along the wide moat of Mandalay that surrounds the whole square of Mandalay Palace, the replica of the one from Myanmar’s last royal dynasty. On the next day, ‘the Day of Arrival’, 14 April, we got soaked with the cooling Thingyan water while strolling from one stage to another to enjoy the free music concerts as well as the Thingyan choral dances along with the Thingyan traditional drum beat. We were cheered up with the merry shouts and shrieks of Myanmar youths who especially got excited to see a European tourist (with a Myanmar lady next to him) getting drenched to the skin and wading along the flooded streets around the moat of Mandalay just like them!
I felt a mixture of euphoria and nostalgia. I couldn’t help recalling those Thingyan days of my childhood in the 70s and 80s. Then the festival was still celebrated to the fullest extent with elegant pavilions in many cities, which organized the competitions of music, dancing and especially 'Thangyat', a kind of Burmese folk music with satirical lyrics sung to the beat of traditional drums and gongs. We used to enjoy the witty lines of Thangyat groups who tried to point out the errors of our society in various aspects. I was wondering when we would be able see again those traditional floats of Thingyan music bands floating between the stages or pavilions of Mandalay as well as the competitions of 'Thangyat' groups in our big cities. I was pleased though to see a few traditions or rituals still being practised by our Burmese folk during our visits to U Pein Bridge and to the temples of Mandalay like 'Mahamuni' and 'Kuthodaw'.
For my European husband the festival was fascinating as he experienced it for the very first time. Well-mannered and amiable folks of Mandalay were very friendly to all the outsiders and western tourists like him. He received a lot of greetings, either 'Hello' or 'Min-ga-lar-par'. Because of him, maybe also thanks to his big camera, we were welcomed everywhere even to the big stages where only their 'VIPs' were allowed. This gave us a chance to capture some performances on our video which we have published on Youtube. Have a look and feel Mandalay Thingyan with us!
Thuzar Winn
December 2015
Most tourists visit Myanmar during the cool season. They miss the biggest festival of Myanmar, the Water Festival, the festival of ushering the new year, which falls in April in the midst of the hot season which can be scorching hot! But the water of Thingyan - as you can see on the photos - is cooling everybody who considers it washing away the sins of the old year.
Splashing water on each other cordially and jovially, roaming the town in open roof vehicles in groups greeting, teasing and shrieking at each other buoyantly, high-spirited hosts of water pandals (water stations) soaking and drenching noisy revellers in the open vehicles with water jets from an array of high-power hoses, dainty Myanmar belles in glam costumes wearing yellow Badauk flowers elaborately in their hair and dancing in unison on an open stage, sparky youngsters chanting and dancing to the upbeat Thingyan music from the stages where music and film stars are performing exuberantly – these are the scenes of the water festival we witnessed and experienced in Mandalay, also the typical scenario of Myanmar's New Year Festival in the recent years.
‘Thingyan’, which is how this most celebrated festival is called in Burmese, has been a time-honoured festive event for hundreds of years ever since the era of Bagan Dynasty. Once the hot season starts by the end of February, everyone would look forward to the festival week which is from 13 April to 17 April. Months before the festival you would already hear Thingyan traditional songs and hits echoed with the typical Thingyan beat of the classic drum everywhere from a roadside tea café to a bustling shopping mall. Some Thingyan classics and hits are covered or remade by many popstars every year as Thingyan lovers never tire of them. Thingyan music gives everyone the cheery spirit of the festival which arrives every year with the sweet fragrance of golden Badauk flowers prevailing in the air of April or 'Tagu', the first month of the Myanmar lunisolar calendar.
On the day we arrived in Mandalay, 13 April 2015, the eve of the festival, or ‘the Day of Ushering’, the city was already vibrant and enveloped in the atmosphere of Thingyan. We saw a few big stages richly decorated and a number of water stations all along the wide moat of Mandalay that surrounds the whole square of Mandalay Palace, the replica of the one from Myanmar’s last royal dynasty. On the next day, ‘the Day of Arrival’, 14 April, we got soaked with the cooling Thingyan water while strolling from one stage to another to enjoy the free music concerts as well as the Thingyan choral dances along with the Thingyan traditional drum beat. We were cheered up with the merry shouts and shrieks of Myanmar youths who especially got excited to see a European tourist (with a Myanmar lady next to him) getting drenched to the skin and wading along the flooded streets around the moat of Mandalay just like them!
I felt a mixture of euphoria and nostalgia. I couldn’t help recalling those Thingyan days of my childhood in the 70s and 80s. Then the festival was still celebrated to the fullest extent with elegant pavilions in many cities, which organized the competitions of music, dancing and especially 'Thangyat', a kind of Burmese folk music with satirical lyrics sung to the beat of traditional drums and gongs. We used to enjoy the witty lines of Thangyat groups who tried to point out the errors of our society in various aspects. I was wondering when we would be able see again those traditional floats of Thingyan music bands floating between the stages or pavilions of Mandalay as well as the competitions of 'Thangyat' groups in our big cities. I was pleased though to see a few traditions or rituals still being practised by our Burmese folk during our visits to U Pein Bridge and to the temples of Mandalay like 'Mahamuni' and 'Kuthodaw'.
For my European husband the festival was fascinating as he experienced it for the very first time. Well-mannered and amiable folks of Mandalay were very friendly to all the outsiders and western tourists like him. He received a lot of greetings, either 'Hello' or 'Min-ga-lar-par'. Because of him, maybe also thanks to his big camera, we were welcomed everywhere even to the big stages where only their 'VIPs' were allowed. This gave us a chance to capture some performances on our video which we have published on Youtube. Have a look and feel Mandalay Thingyan with us!