2012 YANGON THINGYAN
GREETING & NEW YEAR WISH
Dear fans, friends and families:
Happy Thingyan New Year to you all !! Warmest New Year wish from Yangon, Myanmar. May this Thingyan New Year bring all smiles and cheers; wipe your tears and bad luck along with its water.
ME & THINGYAN
The very last time I shot was 2008 Yangon Thingyan, it was four years ago which I still feel like a few months back there. In the following year, I was in Bangkok with my Mum. What about 2010 and 2011 Thingyan? Oh, I was in Singapore. And this year, I decided to be in Yangon as I need to babysit my beloved Mum. Every year if I happen to be in Yangon during Thingyan, I hardly ever go out and play water. Why? Thingyan, to me, is an absolute leisure time which I want to utilize it wisely. So what is my wish-list for Thingyan holidays? Stay home, spend time retouching old photos, write blog and recharge energy by getting enough sleep!
THINGYAN PHOTOS
A few days back, my notorious sister, Saw Yu Mon, said she was so much fervent too see happenings of Yangon Thingyan. She wanted me to go one round of Yangon and shoot. And on the next day, I was told by my girlfriend how much she was craving to feel the essence of Padauk and Ngu Wah flowers (flowers that blooms during Thingyan). That is the origin of this Thingyan post. That’s how I happen to shoot 2012 Yangon Thingyan. Not just for two of them, I have tons of my fans out there to share this joyful moment with. To my local friends who do not play water, to my friends in overseas who could not come back, to my foreign friends who would like to know more about Thingyan, I have put a big time for you guys.
THINGYAN, THE TRUE MEANING
“Thingyan” is the word derived from Sankrit, translate as “transit of the Sun from Pisces to Aries“. Among various festivals of Myanmar Lunar calendar, Thingyan is the merriest and the biggest celebration nationwide. In the cities of big or small, in the villages of far or near, everyone plays water…
THINGYAN, A HARMONIOUS BLEND OF FOLKLORE & BUDDHISM
Thingyan is ushered in by three or four days (five days in some years) of the Water Festival. The folklore says, Thagyarmin (king of the celestial), will be on a visit to the human abode for three days during Thingyan. It is by way of helping and guiding humans that he comes down to bring the New Year and remind people of their religious and spiritual duties. Thus, Thingyan is the time for Myanmar people to wash away themselves of the defilement and sins they might have collected during the old year and look forward to a better year and future. With Thingyan Yay (New Year Water), all the bad things will be washed away.
THE CELEBRATION
The main feature of Thingyan is water-throwing or pouring water. Temporary water-spraying stations, known as pandals, are set up along the road sides. Some of the pandals are with music bands and traditional / modern dance performances.
“Thingyan” usually falls around mid April (the Burmese lunar month of Tagu). It is a Buddhist festival celebrated over a period of four to five days culminating in the New Year. In the past, the dates of the Thingyan festival are calculated according to the traditional Burma Lunisolar calendar and but now have fixed to base on Roman calendar (13 to 16 April) equivalent it often coincides with Easter. 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. However, in most parts of the country, it does not begin in earnest until the second day. 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.
References:
– Presenting Myanmar, Maung Kyaa Nyo, June 2000
– Flowers & Festivals Round The Myanmar Year, Khin Myo Chit, February 2002
– Myanmar Customs & Culture, U Than Pe, July 2009
– Wikipedia, The Free Online Encyclopedia
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“The Golden Padauk” – April in Myanmar unveils the burning climax temperature of all year round. It is the time of the year the leaves of the trees have dried up, curled crisp and fallen. But one large tree stands tall and green with its canopy of emerald leaves. That is Padauk!! Padauk (also spell as Pa-Dauk) waits for the first rain showers to burst forth into the bloom with its tiny fragrant yellow gold flowers.
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“The Majestic Bloom” – These Ngu Wah trees along the University Avenue road are in full bloom and their bright yellow flowers looked majestic with the autumn’s sunlight… This picture is captured for my girlfriend as to fulfill her wish…
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“Poetic Autumn’s Blossom” – Like Padauk flowers, Ngu Wah (also known as the Golden Mohair) is commonly seen in Myanmar. Ngu Wah is the national symbolic flower of Kingdom of Thailand where Myanmar’s is Padauk…
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“Round The Yangon” – A jeep full of revelers is doused with water on the streets of Yangon…
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“Magical Thingyan Yay” – Thingyan is the time for Myanmar people to wash away themselves of the defilement and sins they might have collected during the old year and look forward to a better year and future. The folklore says, with Thingyan Yay (New Year Water), all the bad things will be washed away…
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“J-Me & His Audience” – A local radio broadcasting company, Shwe FM, hosts a giant pandal in Yangon Chinatown with the live performances all day long…
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“Ni Ni Khin Zaw’s Performance” – 20-minute performance of new artist, Ni Ni Khin Zaw, at Shwe FM’s pandal became a hit in Chinatown with her loyal fans and audience…
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“Rolling Stone” – Mazda B-600, a vehicle with the age of my Dad, still rolling on the street of Yangon… By the way, it is a very popular choice for revelers during Thingyan…
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“Cram on Kabaraye Pagoda Road” – The road features most of the giant pandals in town, traffic is simply dire even on the first day of the celebration…
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“Joy With The Water” – It is really blissful to see these people’s joy amidst the splashes of Thingyan New Year Water…
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“Hello Lady Fire Fighter” – She wants to use that 2-inch Fire Hose to play water but seems like she can’t handle well…
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“Thingyan Fashion” – People don’t set any boundary during Thingyan. Some young people dress up like this…
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“Thingyan Candid” – It wasn’t intentional at all. I swear! She passed by, I saw and I clicked! For my Shwe Mann Thar buddy, Nyi Min San. Lolz…
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“Thingyan Hangover” – People lose control and forget the limit with the joy of New Year… Every year, Thingyan ranks highest per day national alcohol consumption…
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“Splash Splash” – The revelers in front of POKKA’s pandal on Kabaraye Pagoda Road…
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“Dance With Water” – She noticed that I was shooting her. Do you know what did she do? She danced faster, moved sexier and shake her body harder… Oops!
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“Festive Thingyan Mood” – Those people on the pandals, those people on the road, those revelers on the cars, those people who passed by… They all have the same festive Thingyan mood… Because it’s Thingyan merit making and joy sharing time…
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“Shake Shake Shake” – With the music beats up and down, she shakes flawlessly in ease..
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“Five Whole Days” – 2012 Thingyan has five whole days of water splashing… People get one more day to play water compared to last year…
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“New Year Family Union” – Along with New Year merits, cheers and joys, Thingyan also is a time that most families celebrate union. Like Chinese New Year in China where people enjoy long holidays, Myanmar people normally take this chance to go back to native or hometown and enjoy once-a-year union with their loved ones…
