PENANG: After a three-year break, the Songkran Festival, or water festival celebrated by the Thais and Burmese to mark the beginning of a new year, is back in Penang.

Thai Buddhist Temple Wat Chayamangkalaram is celebrating the festival from now until Sunday.

The temple stopped celebrating for the past three years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Led by a local, more than ten Chinese national university students studying in Universiti Sains Malaysia were seen at the temple with their water guns, rain coats and pails, ready to have a water fight.

Some foreign tourists were also seen joining them to have fun in the water fight.

The person in charge of the temple said the temple is expected to be crowded this weekend when people come for the water festival.

“Some visitors bring their own water while some sponsor water tankers,” said the person in charge.

Some Thais were seen praying at the temple but did not take part in the water fight.

The temple is open from 8 am to 4 pm.