The Songkran festival (Thai: สงกรานต์, pronounced [sǒŋ.krāːn], listen) the Thai New Year's festival. The Thai New Year's Day is 13 April every year, but the holiday period includes 14-15 April as well. The word "Songkran" comes from the Sanskrit word saṃkrānti (Devanāgarī: संक्रांति),[1] literally "astrological passage", meaning transformation or change. The term was borrowed from Makar Sankranti,[2] 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] the New Year of many calendars of South and Southeast Asia. The festive occasion is in keeping with the Buddhist/Hindu solar calendar.