It’s the start of Thingyan, the Burmese new year. Thingyan means moving from one year to another. It signifies leaving one year behind and start a fresh in a new year. In Burma for centuries, people have washed away their sins and bad experiences with scented water during this period.

The water festival as it is currently celebrated, is also a chance for people to let their hair down, have fun and make jokes. The traditional Thangyat plays an important role in this: through music, theatre and poems, people vent their anger and frustrations and joke about many subjects. This has always been the perfect way to express views about politics, the government and current fashions and opinions. The current government is curbing down on this freedom of expression and Thingyan is celebrated in a ‘watered-down’ version.

Apart from the festivities and the joking around, Thingyan is also a time to reflect. Many people do this by meditating, giving alms to the monks and adhering to the eight precepts. At the end of Thingyan, this Sunday, the Burmese new year is welcomed. People water buddha statues, eat special foods and get ready for a lucky and happy new year.

The founders of The Best Friend and all its supporters want to wish everybody all the best for this coming year. May your lives be filled with happiness. Their personal wishes are below.

New Year is always a time to say good bye to the past year and make a warm welcome for the coming year. We hope for all our desires and wishes to come true with this New Year.
May the New Year bring freedom and Prosperity and Happiness and Peace!
May the peoples of Burma get what all they desire in this New Year!

with Metta, Ashin Kovida

My best wishes for Burmese new year is for all people to be happy and have a peaceful life in the near future and live in a real free country!

with Metta, Ashin Sopaka

ျမန္မာ့သၾကၤန္

သၾကၤန္ရဲ႕ အဓိပၸါယ္မွာ ကူးေျပာင္းျခင္းပါပဲ။နွစ္ေဟာင္း

Ashin Issariya holds daily Dhamma talks in Mae Sot during Thingyan. Please view the photographs below.

May everybody be happy and healthy. Please listen Thingyan song!

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