Songkran 2010

Songkran 2010 (2553) at Buddhapadipa TempleThai New Year was celebrated on the actual New Year’s Day this year (13^th April 2010) because it actually fell on a weekend day. Usually at Buddhapadipa Temple we have to move the day as, of course, Thai New Year is not a national holiday in the UK and it is only fair to arrange things so that anyone who wants can be there to celebrate. And come and celebrate people did! We did not need to throw water at one another as people do in Thailand, as it was cool day.




Just in case people who wanted holy water, Phramaha Visit (from Dhammapadipa Temple in Scotland) was sitting, serving out blessings with splashings of water to those seeking good merit for the year to come. In front of him were the usual stalls with their wonderful colours and (to western eyes) exotic products. Most eye-catching for people were the vegetables painstakingly carved into the imitation of beautiful flowers to be used as centre pieces on tables. This year we also had an attraction and that was the addition of a sand pit in which you could build a sand-castle to bring you luck! All one needed of course, was a deck-chair and a bit of sunshine to make even English people feel nostalgically at home!


The local Thai restaurateurs were in their usual location in the car park and their sizzling hot food with piquant spices was particularly welcome given the cool weather.





On the stage, the musicians and dancers, and those children and grown-ups who had been practising their traditional Thai dancing for so many hours were performing. That brought great warmth and delight to people’s hearts through their performances. The traditional beauty pageant also carried on.




It is this mingling of cultures and openness to different tastes and ideas which is something that always brings great warmth and happiness to people's heart and makes them realise how important such occasions are in increasing sharing and understanding. We wish everyone a very happy Thai New Year!