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Thais on Saipan celebrate Songkran festival
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- Thai Buddhist monks Phra Maha Wachira Paisopar, left, and Phra Adrian Tanakaro lead the prayers and chants in last Saturday’s celebration of the Songkran Festival at Spicy Thai Noodle House. (Jon Perez)
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- Thai community members, right, serve food to Buddhist monks Phra Adrian Tanakaro, left, and Phra Maha Wachira Paisopar in last Saturday’s celebration of the Songkran Festival at Spicy Thai Noodle House. (Jon Perez)
Thai nationals on Saipan celebrated the Songkran festival last week with Phra Maha Wachira Paisopar and Phra Adrian Tanakaro, the first Chamorro Buddhist monk, leading the prayers and blessing at the Spicy Thai Noodle House in Garapan.
Phra is the common term used for a Thai Buddhist monk followed by his name. Thai Buddhism follows the Theravada school based on the Pali Canon, a collection of the oldest recorded Buddhist texts.
Songkran is the Thai New Year that falls every April 13. The annual holiday stretches to April 14 and 15. The occasion follows the lunar calendar in the astrological passage of Aries based on Hinduism.
Paisopar and Tanakaro led the chanting of the prayers, mostly for protection, and the blessing of the holy water. The monks also held on to a ball of thread, which symbolizes that all living things are connected with only one consciousness in life.
Thai nationals then gave the monks pieces of paper that have the names of their deceased loved ones, living relatives, and other prayer intentions that were burned inside a bowl as a way of sending them off to the heavens.
The paper represents merits or sending good karma to your loved ones while the blessing is for keeping yourself safe and healthy the entire year.
Thai community members then washed the hands of Paisopar and Tanakaro, who in return also blessed them.
“The washing of the hands is like having all the bad things you’ve done and that happened washed away so you could start new, having a new beginning. Water is a very important part of the celebration,” said Tanakaro.
Songran is also known as the Water Festival in Thailand where it is regarded as one of the happiest days for the Thai people. Usually, offices and schools are closed during the three-day festivities.
It is also the time of reunion for families with those studying or working in other areas heading back home to spend time with their relatives.
