Legend 1:
LegendofSongkranGoddesses
According to the day of Gan Song Festival every year, the God of Gan Song has different names. It is called Tungsa on Sunday, Koraka on Monday, Raksos on Tuesday, Mondha on Wednesday, Kirinee on Thursday, Kimina on Friday and Mahotorn on Saturday.
The Seven Gan Song Gods refer to the seven daughters of Maha Gan Song, who were responsible for taking care of their father's head placed on the pedestal of Wanfa, and were beheaded because he could not answer DhammaKumar's question correctly. Before he died, Mahasonggan asked his seven daughters to put their heads in the heat source, that is, the king's pillar.
If you put his head on the earth, there will be fire and drought, and even the water in the ocean will dry up. Seven daughters take turns guarding their father's head every year.
Legend 2:
According to legend, a long time ago, there was a rich man who sacrificed to the sun god and the moon god under a big tree by the river all day. Once it was Song Ganri, the tree god was moved by his pious heart, and told the Emperor that the Emperor had pity on him and ordered the righteous golden boy to be reincarnated in the rich man's house.
The rich man got a son named "Guma", which means "boy". Guma is very talented and smart. At the age of seven, she was able to recite scriptures, understand bird language and predict the fate of the world, which angered Gullbing Brahmins and Mahabrahmins. The sage Garbin Brahman asked three questions and made a bet with Guma that the loser would cut off his head. Guma answered the question as scheduled, and Shi Xian gave up and cut off his head. However, Shi is a fierce god now. Where his head is placed, there will be disaster. Therefore, Shi Xian's head will be held by his seven daughters in turn and enshrined at the top of the square tower of Tori Cave in Kanjian. Every year, the seven fairies take turns to take out their father's head and travel around Mount Sumi. Later, Visasugan built a crystal palace for this purpose. The gods meet once a year in the palace and drink seven times the water soaked in jiaozi-shaped vines as a memorial, and the day of the meeting is named "Gan Song Festival".
The custom of Songkran Festival in Thailand
Before the festival comes, people should clean their homes and burn old clothes to avoid bad luck. During the festival, people will splash water on each other, wish each other well, and hold a series of celebrations, such as gift-giving ceremony, beauty contest, float parade, food exhibition, cultural and artistic performances and so on. According to custom, during this period, people went to the temple to build sand towers, insert colorful flags and offer flowers, and pray for a bumper harvest; In the evening, the perfume soaked in petals is sprinkled on the arms and backs of the elders to show their blessings, and then the elders pour water on the heads of the younger generation to show their blessings.
The Origin of Songkran Festival in Thailand
Songkran Festival in Thailand is also called Songkran Festival. The word "Gan Song" comes from Sanskrit and means "leap" or "advance", which is consistent with the lunar calendar. When the sun passes through the zodiac, such as ewe, Taurus, Gemini, cancer, lion, virgin, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces, it takes 30 days for each zodiac to run, so the lunar calendar calculation method is widely used in some Southeast Asian countries, such as Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos. April 13 is the Maha Songkran Festival and the Thai New Year. When the sun moves from Pisces Palace to Muyang Palace, the earth passes through the sun at a positive angle, making the time of day and night the same.
The Festival Value of the Songkran Festival in Thailand
Songkran Festival has been an important festival to celebrate the Thai New Year since ancient times, symbolizing the care, love and close combination of family, society and religion. Families gather here to pay tribute to their elders. Young people ask their elders to sprinkle water on their palms to pray, and then congratulate them by accumulating virtue, donating food to monks, building sand towers and sprinkling water on each other. Feeling social harmony, caring for the public and protecting the environment are conducive to the cleanliness of homes, temples and buildings.
The fundamental significance of the Songkran Festival lies in its cleaning and purification process-eliminating all evils, misfortunes and sins and starting the new year with all beauty and purity. In this festival, water represents the process of purity and cleanliness.