Burma is a Buddhist country. During the dynasty of Burmese kings, the king celebrated the New Year in his palace together with his families, for three days. They offered flowers, fruits, and foods to the Buddha in the monastery. There they worshipped Buddha and the monks. The king and his families poured water on each otheron their backs or on their shoulders from a silver bowl. The water from the silver bowl was perfumed. Outside the palace, all the people poured water on each other from their buckets or silver bowls. They believed that the Lord Buddha came from heaven on the first day and went back on the third day of the celebration. Pouring water on each other was meant to wash off the misdeeds or what they had done in the past.
Today, Burmese people celebrate it in a different way. The older people go to the monastery and worship to the Lord Buddha and the monks. But the young ones go out driving in their cars. Most of the cars used in the Water Festival are jeeps. A jeep can carry only 6/7 people normally, but in the Water Festival days, it carries over 25 people standing and climbing on all parts of the car, even with some people sitting on the hood of the engine. It looks like a man-tree from a distance. While they are driving, they are singing songs and shouting. Some ladies and women are among those on the cars.
When they are driving, they spray water from pumps or they throw little plastic water-bags on each other and have fun. Some young people and children walk in groups carrying buckets or cans or plastic containers full of water, going to and fro along the roads. If they meet the water festival cars or the car passes by they throw little plastic water-bags and pour water on them.
Some young people spray water on the people on the cars by using big pumps from stages. On the stages, there are music bands and a variety of dances done by the school girls. In Rangoon, the capital of Burma, the government builds many stages in different places for the government officials and their families to participate in the festival.
In April the sun is so hot that the Water Festival players cannot play the whole day and they have to take a rest, mostly under the trees, in the afternoon. They start again in the afternoon about 2:30 p.m.
All the government offices and the shopping centers are closed for the holidays enabling all the people to celebrate the Water Festival and New Year. During these days, the prices of all kinds of foods and gas are higher than usual. All the streets are wet with water and some places the water even flows as in the rainy season.
I would like to invite you all to visit my country and enjoy the Water Festival and New Year together with us. Then you will know for yourself how joyful and wonderful it is.