Thingyan Burmese Water Festival, Myanmar

The Thingyan Festival is held from April 13 to 17 all across Myanmar. Locals douse each other with water to ward off evil and wash away the previous year’s bad luck. The splashing tradition (similar to that in Lao PDR, Cambodia and Thailand) feels like a relief in the hot, dry season of mid-April. This is also the time to enjoy foods like mont lone yay paw (a sticky rice dumpling with a palm sugar center) and the Yane dance held at custom-built pavilions. The last days of the festival are spent by conducting merit making rituals. Kind wishes are also exchanged between family and friends. (Myanmar Tourism Ministry)