The Thingyan or Water Festival is also known as Myanmar’s Traditional New Years Festival (‘Thingyan’ means ‘moving from one year to another’). According to the Myanmar calendar, New Years Day falls on the second week of April. The Thingyan Festival is celebrated all over the country, though the celebration style is a little different in each city. Traditionally, the water festival begins three days before New Years Day (17th April), when residents throw water on each other. According to the ancient tradition of Myanmar, people’s sins can be washed away when water is thrown on them, thus allowing them to start the new year with purified spirits. As a meritorious deed, some young people will wash the hair of old people. It is also customary to buy live fish and cows and let them loose in sanctuaries or rivers or lakes on the final day of Thingyan. It is estimated that this type of water festival has been celebrated in Myanmar for over 500 years.