Traditionally, on Thai New Year (“Songkran”) in the peak of the hot season, the younger generation pours cool fragrant water over the hands of their parents, grand parents and village elders, paying respect, asking for forgiveness and expressing their gratitude. In many monasteries the ritual of water pouring begins with “bathing” Buddha-images and then the monks and novices, who, joyfully receiving the cool water, extend their new years blessings over the lay community.
In Wat Pah Nanachat - ever since it’s founding in 1975 - the monks receive a full bath on Songkran, clothed in their traditional bathing cloths, sitting sheltered in a shielded off area under the stream of water poured down on them them from the outside. Inside the male village elders (the “por-orgs”), give them a full washing with soap and a swift massage of back and limbs under the cool flow of water. Outside the whole community gradually becomes soaking wet, as sooner or later everyone mutually splashes each other in a feast of waterblessing.
