This year, on April 13, there is the traditional water-splash festival of Chinese minority castes like Tai caste, Achang caste, Pulang caste, Wa caste, Deang caste etc. This festival is also the new year of those castes. These minority castes are generally spread in the Yunnan province of southwest China. The Pani-Chhapaka festival is the most important of the traditional festivals of the Tai caste, which is celebrated every year from 13 to 15 April.
The arrival of the Pani-Chhapaka festival marks the beginning of the new year for the people of the above castes. When the festival arrives, men, women and children of the Tai caste wear festive costumes, splashing each other with water to express their blessings. During the festival, activities such as folk activities, art performances, economic and business exchanges, etc. are organized. Typical festival activities include water sprinkling, dragon boat competition, Buddha worship, sutra chanting, Changha singing performance, peacock dance and white elephant dance performance, etc.
In fact the festival of water-splash comes from India. Water splashing was once a religious ritual of the Hindu Brahmins, and was later adopted by Buddhism. Around the end of the 12th century to the beginning of the 13th century, the water-splashing ceremony entered the Tai ethnic region of Yunnan via Myanmar, due to the growing influence of Buddhism in the Tai ethnic region. Gradually it became a local ethnic custom. Due to the expansion of the influence of Hinayana Buddhism in the Tai ethnic area, the practice of water-splashing became widely popular among the people, and merged with the local mythology, then it became a grand fixed important festival. The water-splash festival of the Chinese minority castes is similar to the Holi festival in India. Both are festivals celebrating the New Year and both have a tradition of sprinkling water.
There is a legend prevalent among the Tai ethnic people about the origin of the Pani-Chhapaka festival. It is said that a long time ago, a fire demon ruled the Tai ethnic territory. He used his power indiscriminately, due to which wind and rain did not come, crops did not grow and people’s life became very miserable. The fire demon abducted seven young women and made them his concubines. These seven maidens were sympathetic to the suffering of the common people and they used tricks to get rid of the fire demon. During the process of eliminating the demon, the seven maidens embrace the demon’s head in turn, and wash off the dirt from their bodies in alternate intervals until the fire demon’s head has turned to dust. Later, in order to remember the heroic spirit of the seven maidens of the Tai family, every year on the day the fire demon was vanquished, everyone began to bless each other by sprinkling water on each other.
At the same time, there are many legends about the origin of Holi in India, one of them is this. It is said that in ancient times there was a cruel king named Hiranyakashyap, but his son Prahlad was loved and supported by the people. Prince Prahlad expressed his discontent over his father’s cruel rule, which enraged the father. But Prahlad was not ready to listen to her at all, so Holika (Prahlad’s aunt) conspired and planned to take the prince to the fire. Since Holika was wearing fireproof clothes, she could not burn, and she jumped into the fire with Prahlad in her arms, so that Prahlad was consumed in the fire. However, contrary to expectations, Holika was reduced to ashes in the fire, but the prince escaped safe and sound due to the protection of Lord Vishnu. After this people started celebrating the festival of Holi to celebrate the victory of good over evil. Holi Festival in India is also known as Pani-Chhapaka festival.
The Pani-Chhapaka festival is a comprehensive platform to fully display the traditional cultures of Tai race, water culture, music and dance culture, food culture, textile culture etc. It is also an important window to study the history of the Tai race, which has high academic value. Along with this, art performances such as Changha singing, white elephant dance can bring artistic enjoyment to the people during the festival. On May 20, 2006, the water-splash festival was selected in the first batch of the Chinese National Intangible Cultural Heritage list.
(Credits- China Media Group, Beijing)
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