ThinGyan Association was founded in 1992 in New York City with the mission to keep alive the traditional arts and culture of Burma. We are a volunteer-based, non-profit association that organizes cultural and education programs for the newest generation of Burmese Americans, Burmese immigrants who wish to preserve their birth-culture, and all those who care about mulit-ethnic tradition, folk arts, and cultural diversity. ThinGyans mission is especially significant in light of difficult access to the indigenous cultures in Burma (now called Myanmar) and the few organizations outside Burma addressing them.
Rakhaing Thingyan in the New
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GET READY TO GET WET...
BURMESE WATER FESTIVAL -- Upper West Side – July 17
Spray, splash and soak your friends and family at the 17th Annual Rakhaing Thingyan Water Festival, a celebration of the Burmese New Year and culture, on Sunday, July 17, 2011, from 11:00 am to 4:00 pm.
The festival is located on the Upper West Side – Public School 9, The Sarah Anderson School -- 100 West 84th Street, between Columbus Avenue and Amsterdam Avenue - - Admission is free.
Water Festival marks the start of the Burmese lunar calendar New Year, which occurs in mid-April—at the height of summer heat in Myanmar. Since April can still be cold in New York, the Water Festival is usually celebrated here in mid-July. The Burmese Water Festival is highlighted by an age-old tradition where children and adults joyously pour water on each other to be rid of last year's troubles. Wet or dry, come experience local Burmese cuisine, singing, dancing, music, arts and crafts, raffle drawings and children's games.
Known as a time for men to court women and flirt, the event will also include the Laung Hlay, a traditional Rakhaing racing boat, which is filled with water and guarded by women. Young men wishing to play must ask a woman permission to have a bowl of water from the boat. If she agrees, they will splash each other, and when his bowl is empty, he must ask again for more. Once the Laung Hlay is empty, another group is given a turn to splash. Many marriages have resulted from water play at the Laung Hlay.
The Burmese Water Festival is sponsored by ThinGyan Association, a non-political, not- for-profit Burmese-American social organization devoted to preserving and sharing the colorful, multi-ethnic heritage of Burma.
NOTE: Photography available