Origin of Songkran

According to the Buddhist scripture at Wat Pho, Songkran originated from the death of Kapila Brahma Thai: กบิลพรหม (lit. reddish Brahma). In the past there was a wealthy man and his heavy drinking neighbour. The drunkard, who had two sons, belittled the rich man for being childless. The rich man was humiliated and beseeched the Sun and the Moon gods to grant him a son. His attempts failed until he offered cooked rice to the tree god living in a banyan tree. The tree god asked Indra to grant the man's wish. The child, named Thammabal (Thai: ธรรมบาล, or Dhammapala), 'one who protects righteousness', was born.

Thammabal was a clever child who learned three vedas, bird language and also taught people to avoid sin. A god named Kabillaprom learned of the child and wanted to test the child's cleverness. The god asked, "Where is the glory of men (sri) located in the morning, during the day, and in the evening?" The loser would have his head chopped off. The boy thought in vain for six days, but could not find a solution to the riddles. He lay beneath a sugar palm tree and overheard a conversation between a pair of eagles. "What are you going to eat tomorrow?", female bird said. "We are going to eat a dead body of Dhammapala, who will fail to answer three riddles?", the male bird replied. The female eagle asked her mate whether he knew the answer. He answered, "In the morning, the sri appears on the face, so people wash their faces every morning. At noon, the sri is at the chest where people spray perfume every noon. In the evening, the sri goes to the feet, so people wash their feet every evening." The boy remembered everything. On the seventh day, the god met the boy and demanded an answer. The boy repeated what he had learned from the eagles, the correct answer. Kabillaprom summoned his seven daughters and told them that he must cut his head off. However, if his head fell to earth, it would create an inferno that would engulf the world. If his head was thrown into the air, the rains would stop. And if his head was dropped into the ocean, all seawater would dry up. To prevent these calamities Kabillaprom told his daughters to place his head on an elevated tray. Thungsa, his eldest child, stored her father's head in the cave in Mount Kailash.

Every year when the Sun enters Aries, one of Kabillaprom's children, called Nang Songkran Thai: นางสงกรานต์, and other angels form a procession. One of them takes a phan with Kabillaprom's head. The lady stands, sits, reclines or sleeps on the back of the animal depending on the time. From the dawn to midday, the lady will stand on the back of her conveyance. After midday until the sunset, she will sit down. Between the sunset and midnight, the lady lies down on her vehicle but leaves her eyes open. After midnight, she sleeps. These postures and other details were previously drawn as part of Songkran notification and now being part of the lunisolar calendar. The procession lasts for 60 minutes around the Mount Meru. This is subsequently called Maha Songkran in order to distinguish from other Songkrans that occurs when the Sun moves from one to another zodiac. For simplicity, the name was later shortened as Songkran.