Songkran Dates: April 13 - April 15

At which of Thailand's many festivals do locals sprinkle water piously over Buddhist statues, but also hurl it at passersby? During which public holiday do Thais pay respect to parents and elders, make merit, give their homes a spring-clean, and still squeeze in time for partying? That's right, it's time again to celebrate the Songkran Festival. Over three hot, sticky days locals see in the traditional Thai New Year, and the whole country is gripped by body-cooling, spirit-cleansing celebrations.

The hallmark for tourists, of course, has long been the tradition of water throwing. Everything from a courteous sprinkle or polite splash to a well-aimed bucket helps participants articulate the good-natured festival fever. It's a practical and mostly welcome solution to the sweltering dry season heat.

However, there's a much deeper meaning to Songkran beyond getting drenched. Most Thais in fact head home for its duration, to enjoy a break punctuated by religious ceremonies amongst family. For them it's a time to express thanks to those they respect, loyalty to ancestors, an awareness of family and social responsibilities and their religious devotion - as well as get wet.  

A period of transition, it's also a time for new beginnings. Songkran, derived from Sanskrit, means 'a move over' or 'change', marking the time when the sun leaves Pisces and shifts into the Aries zodiac for the beginning of a new solar year.

To mark this 'pi mai' (new year) and get it off to an auspicious start, Thais clean. Everything from Buddha statues in streets to temples and houses gets a renewing wash; meanwhile anything old or unused is thrown out (believed to bring bad luck). They perform bathing rites for monks, and engage in pious activities like giving alms, Dhamma practice and listening to sermons to rinse the spirit clean, to wash away the previous year's bad actions. They sprinkle water on parents and elders, and shower them with gifts. Thais believe that bad luck or evil is washed away by water, the person purified, and the pouring of a small amount of holy water on another person's hand or shoulder, confers respect and goodwill. Elders in return wish the youngsters good luck and prosperity.

Known as the 'Water Festival', it's never long before sacred rituals involving the wet stuff give way to playful ones. Apart from religious rejuvenation, water also symbolises the end of the dry season. Considering temperatures can nudge 40 degrees by day in April, a bucket of ice-cold water over the head does a mighty fine job of keeping everybody cool!

Critics of the incumbent party spirit grumble, some even stay home. Songkran has been diluted by the commercial, they say, become too dominated by revelry that cares little for its meaning. They mean partying epicentres like Khao San Road, where liquid-based festivities - water and alcohol - veer on the Bacchanalian, and an unruly carnival atmosphere takes hold. Headlines splashed across front pages each year report new peaks of nationwide delinquency, with wildly drunk teenagers, motorcycle racing, gambling, water-throwing to insane extremes and, tragically, many fatal road accidents often marring the three days.

Still the charms of the traditional survive. One meretricious Songkran custom involves the releasing of live birds and fish. In Paklat (Phra Pradaeng) near Bangkok, beautiful girls form a procession and carry bowls containing fish to the river where they are released. Naturally, many eligible young men from Bangkok make the short pilgrimage to Paklat every year in search of their eternal sweethearts. On the second day, people carry handfuls of sand to temples, and pile it into small stupas as recompense for the dust they have carried away on their feet in the year past.

Celebrated with similar gusto by their Therevada Buddhist cousins in neighboring Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar, Songkran is the biggest, most bizarre and, debatably, the best of Thailand's handful of spectacular religious festivals. A countrywide party, it also makes for a mighty dose of sanook (fun), a fitting byproduct for the fun-loving Thais' most treasured of celebrations.