Songkran With Lustral Waters

For the traditional New Year in Thailand, Songkran, jet-sprays blast and flower-scented waters bless.

Lustral water. Photo: XII’s moblog.

Mid-April is “the peak of the hot season” in Thailand, after many dry months. Plants and human animals could use some refreshment and, right on cue, culture provides. April 13 is Songkran, the old New Year of Siam observed with lustral waters. As if to jump-start the late spring rains, the Thai people scent bowls of water with flower petals, and sprinkle these sacred waters to cool, cleanse and bless.

“Firecrackers are let off at dawn and people spring clean their houses. In the afternoon a parade of Buddha images from Chiang Mai temples goes from the railway station to Wat Phra Singh. Northern people toss lustral water (water scented with perfume and flowers) to bathe the images as they pass along the streets. The Phra Sihing image leads the procession to Wat Phra Singh, where it is set in front of the temple for citizens to bathe throughout the rest of the festival.”

On the third day, in a ceremony called tam hua, younger people pay respects to their elders, bringing flower-scented water to bathe the hands of their parents, teachers, and local leaders.

The Songkran festival has a more riotous aspect too. Check out these photos taken from along the Khao Sarn Road in Bangkok last year. It’s a citywide water-balloon fight that combines the new (spraying bazookas) with the old (white paste made with talc, ideal for smearing.)

Flower petals adorn a statue for Songkran at Wat Buddhapadipa temple, London, 2005. Photo: Mark Fitchett.

Songkran is an ancient custom not only in Thailand but in Burma, Laos, and Cambodia. In more recent decades, it’s migrated to England, too. In Chiang Mai, we’ve learned, flowers are an especially vibrant part of the celebration. This site shows many examples of flower beads strung into a variety of pomelai for the New Year: necklaces, hat-bands, and hair accessories. A dainty “tasseled crown of dawk lak (love flower) Asclepiadaceae sp.” seems the ultimate headpiece for any occasion, especially becoming with black hair.

Happy Songkran to all.

And please let us know which flowers make the sweetest lustral waters. (We’re currently experimenting with some lavender petals of Mme. Isaac Perriere.)

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