India is a country of great multiplicity– Unity in Diversity. It described as a land of diverse religions and innumerable languages. At the same time it also described as a land of festivals as well. Indians love celebrating. Every little occasion from the harvesting of crops, welcoming the spring, expressing devotion to the deities of different religions, lends itself to joyous celebrations splashed with colours, music, folk dances and songs.
One such delightful festival in North- east India is Sangken festival. It is celebrated among all the natives of Arunachal Pradesh. Not only Buddhists, but people from other religious background take part to give a secular feel to the festival. The festival is a Buddhist festival celebrated with respect where Buddha is worshipped for the welfare of the mankind. The celebration takes place for three consecutive days when the images of Lord Buddha are given bath ceremoniously.
This festival is mostly celebrated by Khamti, Singpho, Khamyang, Tangsa and Tai Phake community of Arunachal Pradesh and in Assam. According to the Tai calendar, Sangken festival is celebrated in the month of Naun Ha, the fifth month of the Khamti Lunar calendar which falls generally from 13th to 15th April to welcome the traditional New Year. It is a three day celebration, where the images of Lord Buddha are given a ceremonial bath.
The main attraction of the festival is splashing clean water, which is the symbol of peace and purity. This act represents cleansing of souls in a way. The devotees seek blessing and love from Lord Buddha to ward off evil spirits. The involvement and participation of the people shows the depth and importance of the occasion among the people. Due to this culture of showering water to each other, this festival is popularly known as water festival.
Before the beginning of the festival, homes are cleaned and sweet aromas fill the air from the preparation of sweets like khau-tek, khaomun sen (fried biscuit), khaomun tong tep (biscuit wrapped in leaf) etc. All preparations like plucking of flowers and procuring of candles and incense sticks for prayer are done well in advance and everyone eagerly awaits the sound of the drum beats and gongs from the temple which herald the beginning of the festival.
A temporary shrine called Kyongfra is constructed for keeping the idols of Buddha during Sangken festival. In this Kyongfra during Sangken festival, clean water is sprinkled through a specially designed water fountain called the Lungkong. Clean and scented water poured through the fountain is sprinkled over the idols of Buddha kept inside the Kyongfra. This water, which has washed the Gods, is collected as holy water by the devotees. The tribes put on traditional colorful attire on these days. They also light candles at shrines and burn the incense sticks. They distribute homemade and regional delicacies to friends and families in these days.
On the first day and at an auspicious time, a huge procession is carried out throughout the area with the images or the statue of Lord Buddha. The procession is accompanied with the beats of drum. On the vary day, they splash water on each other and have been believed in washing away their sins. Only after this is done are the sweets distributed to different houses and consumed. The unmarried youth are usually involves in this practice of showering of water. Water is also poured over all the holy objects, including the Boddhi tree, Water is also poured on Bhikkhus (monk) to invoke their blessings for good luck, good health, peace and harmony throughout the year.
Every village has a temple which is the centre of the community’s activities and during the Sangken festival, this is where the people of the village go to first, to offer their prayers and for Son- Fra (to pour water over the idols, tree, etc) to cleanse their soul and pour clean water/holy water over others to enjoy and bond and also as an expression of happiness over the good year gone by. People go to the temple in the morning and evening during the two-three days of Sangken festival to offer prayers and for Son-Fra. Since this festival marks as the beginning of the New Year people tend to wear new clothes and ornaments along with making of delicious ethnic food. All the people of the community irrespective of their age come out from their houses in new and colorful costumes to observe Sangken festival, the festival of water for peace and harmony.
On the final day of Sangken festival, the Buddha images are taken back to the Vihar premises, keeping it in their original places. Restoration of idols inside the Vihara marks the end of the old year and beginning of the New Year. They also offer prayers by lighting candles in the monastery premises and giving food to the monks.
With time comes change and changes can be seen even in the celebration of the festivals while adhering to the true spirit of the festival. Change can also be seen in the perception of the reasons for the celebration of the festivals. Earlier it was a religious festival during which the people would go to the village temple to offer their prayers together. Now each and every preparation for and during the celebration has a different significance for different people.
The best part about Sangken festival was the anticipation of the exact time for the festival to begin and the preparation and distribution of sweets to families/ houses in the village. The distribution of sweets for people meant the sharing of joy and happiness to all and also means a visit to friends and relatives and enjoying the treats they had prepared. Everyone is in a happy mood, smiles are everywhere and crowds are seen on the roads. In the morning and evening mothers with enthusiastic children, young girls in groups in traditional attire, old and young men, all holding small buckets and baskets filled with flowers, candles and incense sticks can be seen proceeding towards the temple. The sense of calm and quiet that prevails during Sangken Festival with the slowing of the pace of life.
Buddhism, for these people, is not just a religion but a way of life. Although it is difficult to follow all the teachings of Lord Buddha to the letter in day to day lives, it is done during the festival time. The Five Precepts constitute the basic Buddhist code of ethics, undertaken by lay followers of the Buddha Gautama in the Theravada as well as in Mahayana traditions. Undertaking the five precepts is part of both lay Buddhist initiation and regular lay Buddhist devotional practices. They are not formulated as imperatives, but as training rules that laypeople undertake voluntarily to facilitate practice.
So the Sangken festival is not just a festival to mark the end of the old and the beginning of the New Year, but it is a celebration of the end of old wounds, hurt and bad feelings and the start of friendships, relationships and life anew with a pure mind, heart and soul.
Sangken festival is also seen to be celebrated abroad.
Many Buddhist exist elsewhere where this festival is celebrated with enthusiasm. Sangken is celebrated as Songkran festival in other ASEAN nations. Songkran is a new year in the countries like Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, etc., to invoke the blessings of the lord Buddha for protection of the mankind from the evils, for peace, harmony, good luck and good health.
(The author is a travel writer)