#The Thai New Year

#Songkran Festival

Songkran is the Thai New Year, a time for the family members to reunite and spend some precious time together. During this time, workers who come from the provinces to work in the capital city of Bangkok metropolis will return home to celebrate. The millions workers will take away with them traffic jam and pollution. Therefore the bustling town will be deserted leaving Bangkok a nice and quiet place to live for a few days.

Songkran Festival falls on April 13th - 15th each year. This year (2008), the auspicious day will be on Sunday - Tuesday. Holidays will start from Saturday 12th to end on Thursday 16th, or a total of five days. There will be celebration throughout the Kingdom.

The term "Songkran" is Thai from the original Sanskrit language which means "Transfer", "Movement", or "Changing position". This is because it is the time the Sun changes it's zodiac position from the twelfth sing of Zodiac Pisces to the first sign of Zodiac Aries, hence a New Solar Year. Although the Thai people officially changed the New Year to January 1 in 1940 to coincide with the Western business world, the traditional Songkran Festival is still celebrated as a national holiday.

The first Songkran day will be on Sunday April 13th, which is "Song kran Long Day" or the passing day of the old year. On this day people will clean their home, their bodies and wear the new cloths. The next day will be Monday April 14th, called "Nao Day" or "Da Day" which means the preparation of various auspicious ceremonies. Food and basic necessities will be prepared on this day to offer to monks and give to friends and relatives on the New Year day. 

The big day will be on Tuesday April 15th, called "Maha (Major) Songkran Day" which means the great important day of New Year. Thai starts New Year day early in the morning with alms offerings to monks, sermon attendance in the temple and spring blessing from the monks. Traditional Thai would do merit by bringing sand to the Wat (Temple) for Making Sand-Chedi (Pagoda) during the Songkran Festival. Today, Thai will simply releases birds and fish in merit making. In the afternoon, after performing a bathing rite for Buddha images and the monks, young people pour scented water into the hands of elders. and parents as a mark of respect. They will also seek the blessing from the elders. Then after, people will cerebrate Songkran by splashing water player fully on each other in "water wars" Everyone gets soaking wet and since it is the hottest season of the year (temperatures can rise to over 100 Degree Falenhigh or 40 Degree Cencious on some days), the custom is quite refreshing. It is also a great fun. Thai people celebrate this festival with water as people believe that water will wash away past sins, consequently, the term "Water Festival". Some choose to follow an old belief that the Nagas or mythical serpents brought on rain by spouting water from the seas. The more they spouted, the more rain there would be. So, one might believe that the Songkran customs of throwing water is actually a rain-making idea. (http://www.xomba.com/)

#Wat Pho

#Wat Pho included in Unesco Programme

Phra Chetupon Temple, more commonly known by Thais as Wat Pho and home of the Reclining Buddha, has been included in the Unesco Memory of the World (MOW) Programme for 2009. The temple was recognised for the historic inscriptions and hermit statues teaching traditional Thai yoga house inside it. The temple's nomination has already been approved by UNESCO committee members in Australia. Official documents affirming this will be sent to Thai authorities on March 31. Wat Pho was built during the Ayutthaya period on the orders of King Rama I and is one of the largest and oldest temples in Bangkok. It is home to more than one thousand Buddha images, the most famous one being the giant Reclining Buddha, which is also a tourist attraction. (BangkokPost.com)

Inscriptions at Wat Phra Chetuphon or Wat Pho, will be proposed as a Memory of the World?. The proposal will be submitted to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which will consider it in June this year. Educational minister Wichit Srisa-an, in his capacity as Chairman of the National UNESCO Committee, said that Wat Pho is regarded as Thailand's first University and a center for traditional Thai massage, where people can learn techniques of various natural remedies for health. At least 1,000 foreign tourists visit Wat Pho each day. Wat Pho 's inscription contain Buddhist teachings, literary works, and Thai wisdom, especially concerning traditional medicine, which can also be seen from hermit statues showing postures for muscle pain treatment. Thailand deems it appropriate to propose the inscriptions to UNESCO's memory of the world program for the pride of the nation. King Ramkhamhaeng's inscription No.1 in the 13th century was Thailand's first piece to be given Memory of the World status by UNESCO in 2003.

Khunying Maenmas Chavalit, a member of the National Memory of the World Program, stated that these inscriptions are valuable and useful not only for Thailand but also for the whole world. She said that King Rama I, who ruled the Thai Kingdom more than 200 years ago, ordered the preservation of traditional medicine texts passed on from the Ayutthaya period. This knowledge has developed over centuries. The hermit postures, in particular, have been included in today's exercise regimes in Thai health Spas. Exercise with these postures is believed to bring about good physical, mental, and spiritual health.

Traditional Thai massage at Wat Pho is recognized worldwide, largely because it takes a holistic approach to healing. Each year, about 100,000 people attend traditional Thai massage courses provided by this temple. On the walls of Wat Pho, there are a number of 19th century murals diagramming energy points and meridians of the human body.

Popularly referred to by foreigners as the Temple of the Reclining Buddha, Wat Pho is recognized as the temple of King Rama I, the first monarch of the Rattanakosin period. It is one of the oldest and largest Buddhist temples in Thailand. Originally built in the reign of King Phetracha, who ruled the Ayutthaya Kingdom from 1688 to 1703, Wat Pho underwent a major renovation during the reign of King Rama I. The walls were inscribed with royal drug remedies. The King also established a royal dispensary there, much like the one in the Ayutthaya period. Later, King Rama III ordered experts in various fields to combine their knowledge, and in words and graphic presentations, it was incribed on stone tablets found in the temple compound. (The Government Public Relations Department)