Local residents of Prey Popel village receive a holy water shower, which is believed to bring good luck, during Khmer New Year celebrations on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Sunday, April 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
Local residents of Prey Popel village receive holy water from Buddhist monks, right, a ritual believed to bring good luck, during Khmer New Year celebrations on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Sunday, April 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
People in their traditional attire participate in the Baishakhi Shobhajatra procession to celebrate the first day of the Bangla New Year in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Tuesday, April 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmud Hossain Opu)
People participate at the Baishakhi Shobhajatra procession to celebrate the first day of the Bangla New Year in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Tuesday, April 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmud Hossain Opu)
Horse-mounted policemen participate in the Baishakhi Shobhajatra procession to celebrate the first day of the Bangla New Year in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Tuesday, April 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmud Hossain Opu)
People participate at the Baishakhi Shobhajatra procession to celebrate the first day of the Bangla New Year in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Tuesday, April 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmud Hossain Opu)
Peoples participate in the Songkran water festival to celebrate the Thai New Year in Bangkok, Thailand, Monday, April 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Arnun Chonmahatrakool)
Peoples participate in the Songkran water festival to celebrate the Thai New Year in Bangkok, Thailand, Monday, April 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Arnun Chonmahatrakool)
A participant wears a mask of U.S. President Donald Trump during the Songkran water festival to celebrate the Thai New Year in Prachinburi province, Thailand, Monday, April 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)
People participate in the Songkran water festival to celebrate the Thai New Year in Prachinburi province, Thailand, Monday, April 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)
Sikh devotees arrive to pay their respects at the Golden Temple, Sikhism's holiest shrine, on Vaisakhi, a spring harvest festival for Sikhs and Hindus, in Amritsar, India, Tuesday, April 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Prabhjot Gill)
A family takes a selfie at the Golden Temple, Sikhism's holiest shrine, on Vaisakhi, a spring harvest festival for Sikhs and Hindus, in Amritsar, India, Tuesday, April 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Prabhjot Gill)
Sikh pilgrims attend a ceremony to celebrate Vaisakhi festival, which also marks the New Year in Sikh tradition, at the shrine of Gurdwara Punja Sahib, the second most sacred place for Sikhs, in Hassan Abdal, Pakistan, Tuesday, April 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
Sikh youth take holy dip in a pool during Vaisakhi festival, which also marks the New Year in Sikh tradition, at the shrine of Gurdwara Punja Sahib, the second most sacred place for Sikhs, in Hassan Abdal, Pakistan, Tuesday, April 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
A Sikh pilgrim reads her holy book in a ceremony to celebrate Vaisakhi festival, which also marks the New Year in Sikh tradition, at the shrine of Gurdwara Punja Sahib, the second most sacred place for Sikhs, in Hassan Abdal, Pakistan, Tuesday, April 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
A Sikh pilgrim prays as he attends a ceremony to celebrate Vaisakhi festival, which also marks the New Year in Sikh tradition, at the shrine of Gurdwara Punja Sahib, the second most sacred place for Sikhs, in Hassan Abdal, Pakistan, Tuesday, April 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
Sikh youth, in traditional dress and holding ceremonial swords, attend a ceremony to celebrate Vaisakhi festival, which also marks the New Year in Sikh tradition, at the shrine of Gurdwara Punja Sahib, the second most sacred place for Sikhs, in Hassan Abdal, Pakistan, Tuesday, April 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
Sikh pilgrims pray as they attend a ceremony to celebrate Vaisakhi festival, which also marks the New Year in Sikh tradition, at the shrine of Gurdwara Punja Sahib, the second most sacred place for Sikhs, in Hassan Abdal, Pakistan, Tuesday, April 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
Assamese girls wearing traditional Mekhela Chadar perform the Bihu folk dance during the Rongali Bihu festival, organized by All Assam Students Union in Guwahati, capital of the north eastern state of Assam, in Guwahati, India, Tuesday, April 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
A Koch Rajbonshi girl in traditional attire performs their Guwaloni dance during the Rongali Bihu festival, organized by All Assam Students Union in Guwahati, capital of the north eastern state of Assam, in Guwahati, India, Tuesday, April 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
Koch Rajbonshi girls in traditional attire perform their Guwaloni dance during the Rongali Bihu festival, organized by All Assam Students Union in Guwahati, capital of the north eastern state of Assam, in Guwahati, India, Tuesday, April 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)
Audio By Carbonatix
3:45 AM on Tuesday, April 14
By The Associated Press
The new year arrived in many forms across parts of Asia on Tuesday, as communities marked the day with traditions shaped by faith and spring harvests.
In Cambodia, farmers gathered to receive a blessing of holy water from a monk during the Khmer New Year, as they enjoy the fruits of their labor before the rainy season begins.
In Bangladesh, the streets filled with color for Pohela Boishakh, the Bengali New Year, where processions and music signaled a new beginning. At dawn in British-era Ramna Park, an annual concert opened with morning ragas. Later, students at University of Dhaka led a procession with colorful banners and sculptures marked with folk motifs.
The festival traces its roots to reforms under Mughal Emperor Akbar, who aligned the calendar with the agricultural cycle. Over time, it has come to embody spring harvest and Bangladesh’s distinctly secular cultural inheritance.
Meanwhile across India and Pakistan, Sikhs marked the festival of Vaisakhi with hymns and music, offering thanks for the harvest and prayers for abundance in the year ahead. The festival also marks the Sikh New Year under the solar Nanakshahi calendar.
In Pakistan, thousands gathered at Sikh temples to mark the occasion, including more than 2,000 Indian pilgrims at Gurdwara Panja Sahib in Hasan Abdal, in the country's eastern Punjab province. The pilgrims traveled from neighboring India to Pakistan despite ongoing tensions between them, underscoring their shared faith.
Similar scenes played out in India’s northeastern state of Assam as people marked Bihu, the harvest festival that ushers in a new season. Celebrated with rhythmic drumming and spirited dance, it marked the start of the agricultural cycle.
In Thailand, the arrival of Thai New Year was marked by the Songkran festival, where the ritual splashing of water symbolizes purification and the promise of good fortune. In modern times, it's also marked by thousands of people gathering for public water fights, popular with tourists, as temperatures creep over 37 degrees (100 F).
This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.
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