what is the songkran festival and what does it mean
Songkran (Thailand) Songkran (Thai: เทศกาลสงกรานต์, pronounced [tʰêːt.sā.kāːn sǒŋ.krāːn]; Khmer: សង្រ្កាន្ត; Burmese: သင်္ကြန်; Lao: ສົງການ) is the Thai New Year's national holiday. Songkran is 13 April every year, but the holiday period extends from 14–15 April. In 2018 the Thai cabinet extended the festival nationwide to five days, 12–16 April, to enable citizens to travel home for the holiday.[1] The word "Songkran" comes from the Sanskrit word saṃkrānti (Devanāgarī: संक्रांति),[2] literally "astrological passage", meaning transformation or change. The term was borrowed from Makar Sankranti, the name of a Hindu harvest festival celebrated in India in January to mark the arrival of spring. It coincides with the rising of Aries on the astrological chart[3] and with the New Year of many calendars of South and Southeast Asia, in keeping with the Buddhist/Hindu solar calendar.
Mamankam festival Māmānkam (Tamiḻ/Malayāḷam: Māmāngam/Mahāmaham or Māmākam) was a duodecennial medieval fair held on the bank, and on the dry river-bed, of Pērār (River Nil̥a, River Ponnani, or Bhāratappuḻa) at Tirunāvāya, southern India. The Hindu temple associated with the festival was Nava Mukunda Temple, Tirunavaya. It seems to have begun as a temple festival, analogous to the Kumbha Melas at Ujjaini, Prayaga, Haridwar and Kumbakonam.[1]