People gathered in huge crowds along the southern moat of Mandalay Palace for Thingyan last April. Pic: Soe Than Lynn

IN this age of globalisation where the world is a mix of different and mingled cultures, the Mandalay Thingyan festivities of the 1960s must seem awfully dated to today's youth.

For those who are already wondering how to enjoy the coming Thingyan and how they will douse passersby from the pandals, it would be an interesting exercise to look back at how the festival was celebrated in years past in Mandalay.

This festivity, held in high esteem among our people, symbolises the priceless padauk, which blooms once all year and only during these festive days. In Mandaly when people want to party during Thingyan they head for the moat that surrounds the four walls of the ancient palace. It is there that most of the revellers - especially young ones - will be found.

As usual there will be advertising on pandals all along the moat. But recently the difficulty of finding a sponsor for pandals has been enormous.
Sponsors must spend between K3 and K8 million to build a pandal, depending on where it is made, what it is made from and what kind of entertainment it features.

The pandals along the southern walls are usually the most popular, although that does not always turn out to be the case.

"Last year we received a sponsorship of K5 million," said Ma May Thu who ran Hikebury Pandal last year.

"We spent half of our budget to hire vocalists and in the end we actually lost K500,000,” she said.

The running costs for pandals range from K2.4 million to K3 million, which includes the K800,000 water pump, hoses and generators. But it does not include transportation charges.

To hire a Dyna truck costs K50,00, while a sedan can be leased for K80,000 for one day. But prices are really high this year. It probably would not be profitable even if pandal owners charged K20,000 for each participant. Despite this, revellers are bountiful and there were at least 80 pandals ringing the moat last year.

Last year the Ngwe Kyun Tha Company was formed to render services to pandals; it did everything from selling tickets to finding sponsors.

“We take 5 percent of the whole cost. Last year we handled everything for four pandals. Unfortunately, owing to the difficulty of finding sponsors, we think there will be fewer pandals this year,” said U Khant Maung of Ngwe Kyun Tha Company.

Dense crowds of exuberant youths are likely to sway to the rhythm and tunes of Myanandar and techno music. In today's Thingyan many revellers prefer to roam on motorbikes rather than in jeeps because it is more economical. You need K120,000 for a day’s cruise in a jeep and K60,000 on a Toyota Hilux. Cruise cars are so packed that people will not be able to see all four sides of the moat until dusk. But with everyone in a festive mood, the wait at each pandal doesn’t seem to bother anyone.

One old reveller recalled Shweman Thingyan, which was how the festival was once celebrated. Instead of drifting about through a clogged atmosphere of exhaust, cars and hip-hopping crowds, there was a tradition of getting soaked merrily while roaming around on the back of a bicycle.

Looking out from Mandalay Hill at dusk revellers would see endless lines of colourful lights and decorated floats carrying musical troupes along 84th street heading towards Mahar Myat Munni Pagoda to pay obeisance.

Visions of the late pop star Win Oo – a darling of Shwemanics – drifted in the cool fragrant breeze of Shweman Thingyan, which he always frequented. Imitating his attitude and posture, many roamed the pandals as if he were still alive and verses of Thangyat reverberated the air. Cupid charmed lovers and wedding invitation cards followed after Thingyan. Nowadays, the once glamorous festival seems to have vanished due to the invasion of alien cultural traits.

An ancient and glamorous Shweman Thingyan around the palace walls and moat should be restored with the splendour of the tradition and culture of the Myanmar people.