One Sun, One Celebration: The Haw Par Villa Solar New Year
The New Year is a time of fresh beginnings, renewed hope, and starting things on a clean slate.
The universal New Year is 1 January. The Chinese celebrate the Lunar New Year, which usually falls in January or February. Slightly later in mid-April, another New Year arrives for a host of communities across South Asia and Southeast Asia.
Here in Haw Par Villa, we are celebrating the New Year in April as one event:
The Solar New Year – a world first.
The Solar New Year
The Solar New Year unites communities that use variants of a solar calendar that originated in the Indian Subcontinent at least 3,500 years ago. Based on these calendars, communities in Singapore, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and southern China usher in the New Year between 13 and 16 April every year.
These Solar New Year festivals include the Tamil Puthandu (14 Apr), the Malayalee Vishu (15 Apr), the Bengali Pohela Boishakh (15 Apr), the Thai Songkran (13-15 Apr), the Burmese Thingyan (13-16 Apr), and the Punjabi Vaisakhi (14 Apr), among others.
Haw Par Villa - A Park for the People
Bringing the Solar New Year to Haw Par Villa is part of our plan to make the park a vibrant space for all communities. This is in keeping with the spirit of the Aw brothers of Tiger Balm fame – Aw Boon Haw and Aw Boon Par – who completed the construction of Haw Par Villa in 1937. They opened the park to the public to make it a community space. Likewise, our vision for Haw Par Villa is for it to be a space for all to enjoy, regardless of race or religion.
From all of us at Haw Par Villa, we wish you a Happy Solar New Year! 🌞
Exploring the Solar New Year in Haw Par Villa
To find out more about calendars, New Years, and the festivals that will be observed in April, look for these exhibition panels at the Tiger Pavilion at the Culture Courtyard.
1. Introduction
2 & 3. Introduction to Calendars
4 & 5. A Brief History of Calendars
6. Aluth Avurudda (Sinhalese New Year)
7. Bohag Bihu (Assamese New Year)
8. Choul Chnam Thmey / Moha Sangkran (Cambodian New Year)
9. Pohela Boishakh (Bengali New Year)
10. Puthandu (Tamil New Year)
11. Songkran (Thai New Year)
12. Thingyan (Burmese New Year)
13. Vaisakhi (Punjabi New Year)
Not sure where the Culture Courtyard is? Check out the Park Map
Greeting cards
We’ve created original greeting cards for the Solar New Year. Feel free to download them and send them to family and friends!
Gallery