Water festivals of Thailand: the Indian connection
11
Issued Date
2010
Resource Type
Language
eng
Rights
Mahidol University
Suggested Citation
Ruchi Agarwal (2010). Water festivals of Thailand: the Indian connection. Retrieved from: https://repository.li.mahidol.ac.th/handle/123456789/40256
Title
Water festivals of Thailand: the Indian connection
Author(s)
Other Contributor(s)
Abstract
The common heritage Indians and the Thais share are on religious, cultural,social and language level. This sharing of culture can be very well seen in festivals celebrated in Thailand. The most important festivals in Thailand are Loy Krathong and Songkran festivals which are linked to the Indian festivals.Thais celebrate Loy Krathong on the full moon in November and respect the river by floating the banana leaf cups into it and ask for forgiveness from the River Goddess Ganges. River Ganges has no connection with Thailand but still is respected by Thais on this day. It is related to the Indian festival of Kartik
Purnima which gets its name from the month of Kartik (November-December).On this day people will bathe in sacred rivers as the beliefs are that Gods descend of earth and reside in the holy rivers that flow naturally for healthy
growth and spiritual grace.Songkran word derived from the Sanskrit word “Sankranti” which is a Thai New Year that falls on 13th-14th of April every year. It portrays the typical ways of life of the people which are involved in the agricultural aspects inIndia as well as Thailand. Both the festivals are celebrated in India and Thailand with different names but with the same purpose somehow and are related to water.My paper deals with the cultural religious connection of such festivals of Thailand with India.
Description
The 4th International Malaysia-Thailand Conference on Southeast Asian Studies: Reexamining Interdependent Relations in South East Asia, Malaysia.