MYANMAR (Burma). Mandalay, 1979. The New Year in countries that follow Hinayana (Lesser Vehicle) Buddhism falls in mid-April, at which time the Thingan (Water-Splashing) festival is held. This is the hottest time of the year, followed by the monsoon weather that sets in from May. The beginnings of this water-splashing festival were elegantly simple: a woman first splashed water from a small container on a man, and then the man splashed water on the woman. In cities like Mandalay and Yangon (Rangoon), the water splashing gets very vigorous, as if a demonstration were being put down with water cannons.