Celebrating New Beginnings: Exploring the Traditions of Thingyan

Like most cultures, Burma celebrates its new year and the onset of a new beginning in and around April. The Thingyan Festival marks the Burmese New Year and is one of the most significant and widely celebrated in the country. The Thingyan Festival marks the traditional new year in the Burmese lunar calendar. It typically lasts several days, aligning with the end of the dry season, which runs from November to April, and the start of the rainy season. 

The History Behind the Thingyan Festival

The Thingyan Festival is a vibrant celebration of renewal, gratitude, and community.  The word ‘Thingyan’ is derived from the Sanskrit word tīrthayātrā, meaning cleansing journey, and is thus linked to water rites celebrating the monsoon’s arrival. 

It has roots in pre-Buddhist traditions. The festival became intertwined with Buddhist beliefs after Buddhism arrived in Burma around the 11th century. 

Water plays a central role in the festival, symbolising the purification and washing away of past misfortunes. People engage in joyous water splashing to cleanse and refresh, filling the streets with music, dance, and festive gatherings. Many also visit temples, perform acts of charity, and make offerings to monks. 

On the final day, people pay their respects to the elders, make resolutions, and express gratitude for their family and community. Thingyan is a celebration of renewal, purification, and the shared spirit of the Burmese New Year.

The Tradition of Water Splashing During The Thingyan Festival

Thingyan is also called the ‘Water Festival’, named after its most distinctive tradition of joyful and symbolic water splashing. During this festival, people take to the streets with buckets, hoses, and water guns, playfully dousing one another to symbolise washing away the past year’s misdeeds and starting afresh.

Temporary stages called pandals are set up along roadsides and adorned with colourful flowers and lights. “These pandals serve as lively centres for music, dance performances, and water games, creating a festive, joyous atmosphere,” says Ankit Gupta, the co-founder of Burma Burma. “Traditional Burmese music and dance add to the excitement, with young people dressed in bright costumes performing cultural dances that embody the spirit of the season,” he adds.

Alongside this exuberant water play, Gupta mentions a gentler, more respectful form of water pouring. “Many people sprinkle or pour water over the hands of elders as a mark of respect and to seek blessings. In temples, devotees may also pour water over Buddha statues as an act of reverence and spiritual purification.”

How Burma Burma Celebrated the Thingyan Festival

The Thingyan Festival inspired the Burma Burma team to introduce the Village Set, bringing the spirit of Burmese community dining to life. “Community dining has deep roots in Burmese culture, especially during Thingyan, when people come together to celebrate, share food, and experience a true sense of unity and joy,” informs Gupta. He also adds that community dining resonates well in India, where sharing meals with loved ones and joining together for festivities is second nature. Just like all festivals and culture, food acts as a medium of connection during Thingyan as well. 

The Village Set at Burma Burma not only brought this concept of community dining to the table but also introduced the guests to traditional Burmese flavours and dishes in a setting that was celebratory and familiar.

Naturally, food is at the forefront of The Thingyan Burmese New Year festival as well. The two dishes important to the Thingyan Festival, according to Head Chef Ansab Khan, are sticky rice and Mont Lone Ye Baw—sweet glutinous rice balls filled with jaggery. “This dish is made across the country, and made as a community and distributed to any passersby and visitors,” informs Chef Khan. A personal favourite of Chef Khan from the Village Set menu is the mushroom and roselle stir fry. He says mushrooms hold a lot of significance in Burmese cuisine and cooking and are a widely used ingredient in Burmese food. “The combination of the tartness from the roselle, spice from the chilli, and the mushroom makes it a very comforting dish and goes well with a bowl of rice.”

What the Thingyan Festival Means for the Burma Burma Team

“We were lucky to witness this [Thingyan Festival] during our first visit to Burma and we went unknowingly and had a great time,” recalls Chef Khan. “We still remember the days when one of our friends in Burma took us around to explore the city with people splashing water across and I have many fond memories of our first experience of Thingyan,” he shares.

Gupta, whose mum has Burmese roots, recalls her beautiful memories of celebrating Thingyan in her hometown, where the entire village would come alive with excitement in the days leading up to the festival. As a child, she would gather with friends, filling clay pots with flowers and scented water to use during the water splashing. “For her,” shares Gupta, “the real joy of Thingyan wasn’t just in the fun of it all, but in the strong sense of community that it fostered.”