PHICHIT, 20 April 2014 – Villagers in Nongsano subdistrict, Phichit province have again participated in a flag raising tradition to end the Songkran festival. It is a special tribute and a practice going back more than 100 years.
On the last day Phichit Governor Surachai Khan-arsa attended a religious flag-raising ceremony to signify the end of the Songkran festival, at Nongsano temple, Sam-Ngam district, Phichit province. The tradition is a cultural celebration of the Songkran festival, in which each of nineteen villages contributes its own beautifully patterned flag, which is then woven into a single long flag. The flag is taken in a procession to Nongsano temple. On arrival, villagers make an off-season offering of robes and other essentials to the monks, and raise the flag announcing that the Songkran period is over. For the Nongsano people the religious tribute and the Songkran celebrations come to a fulfilling end for another year.
This custom is an annual tradition which has been practiced by the Nongsano community leaders and members, for more than 100 consecutive years. The flag is intricately decorated and is an artistic expression of the unity of the people of the nineteen villages, noted Mr.Manop Pookgin, the Chief Executive of the Nongsano Sub-district Administrative Organization.
