Thingyan is the Burmese New Year that falls in mid-April. It is a Buddhist festival celebrated by throwing water on one another to cleanse away the sins and bad deeds of the past year before the new year arrives. Thingyan is also the longest public holiday for the Burmese people. This year, the public holiday is from 11 April to 20 April.
Painting of Thingyan from the Pagan dynasty.
Thingyan celebrated in a traditional way by splashing water to passersby using buckets in the country side.
Today, people go onto pandals (temporarily built stages for Water Festival) and spray water on those in the cars using a water hose. Most of the pandals are equipped with loud music, DJs, and resembles that of Music Festivals in other countries.