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by Nemsiri Mutukumara

The people of Sri Lanka, particularly the Sinhala and Hindu communities join the rest of the people in the Orient to celebrate the Oriental New Year on April 13 and 14.

The Thamil people celebrate their New Year, the Thai Pongal on January 14.

In some Asian countries the New Year celebrations starts on April 12 and continues for well over seven days with the participation of those people who return to their village homes after working for twelve full months in their workplaces in the big cities.

In the south Asian countries where Buddhism and Hinduism predominates the April New Year is recognised as the beginning of the Salivahana Saka era. This year dawns the 1924 Saka year. The year is called 'Citrabhanu'.

The Orient where the lunar and solar systems enjoy equal status gives equal recognition to both planets the Sun and the Moon.

The New Year on April 14 marks the Sun re-entering the Mesha-Aries from the Mina-Pisces after traversing through the entire solar system for 365 1/2 days. The time from the departure from Mina or Pisces and entry to Mesha or Aries is considered inauspicious or popularly called no-nekata.

In Sri Lanka, still the villages in deep south and in the interior rural areas the traditional Sinhala games like cak-gudu, pora-pol, tug-of-war, played by men, and onchillava (the swing), by both men and women, raban-gesima and panci-demima mainly by females come to limelight during the Alut-avurudu festival focussing the attention of the simple folk as well as the sophisticated elite.

Visiting the elders, mamas and nandas, bappas and kudammas is the order of the festival. Every one visiting their elders and relatives carry with them bulat-hurulla and gifts for the New Year. They in turn are also become recipients of avurudu gifts from the elders.

These customs, although some seem to believe are disappearing in the sophisticated high rise housing cities, they are certainly a vibrant religio-cultural facets of the Sinhala and Hindu society.

Heartening indeed to note a few enlightened and inspired Christian priests nowadays expressing fearlessly that the Christian Sinhala community should not deviate from the traditional Sinhala custom of celebrating the Sinhala Avurudda. It certainly does no harm to Christianity at all.

In absolute contrast to Sri Lanka, the countries in the golden triangle - Myanmai, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia all the people without exception celebrate the New Year with determination, dedication and devotion.

The people are led by their kings, the royalty, the rulers who are equally determined to protect the national traditional culture.

The refreshing righteousness of the ruler penetrates down the line to the grassroots where the unsophisticated, simple and humble peasantry and the proletariat take the cue from the rulers to emulate the rulers in protecting the age old traditional culture and the other ingredients woven round their magnificent way of life.

In Cambodia, King Sihanouk leads his people as the custodian of sasana, culture and society in all their manifestations.

The people follow him ardently and reverentially. With the result, culture in Cambodia flourishes - giving new impetus day by day.

Water festival is the main feature on the Songkran festival on April 13 and 14.

Cambodians go to the Village Wat - the temple before embarking on anything else. They hold the Bhikkhu Sangha in the highest esteem.

Carrying loads of fruits and food as the Buddha puja and Sangha dana they partake of the food after the offering. Ordination of a child as a Samanera on this day is considered a highest blessing.

In Thailand the New Year as in Sri Lanka, is celebrated with much geity. The New Year festival is called the Songran festival.

Thailand where the population number over 95 per cent Buddhist, the rest of the minorities join the preponderant majority in celebrating the national event with equal enthusiasm.

All people speaking the same language and draped in the same costume on festive occasions trek to the nearest vihara and pay homage to the Buddha and bathed the Bodhi tree with perfumed water.

Carrying flowers and incense both males and females circumambulate the sacred dagoba and offer the flowers neatly in the vases and pay homage to the sacred relics prostrating on the ground.

On their homeward journey they join the rest of the festive crowds in the water festival.

Since most Thai festivals are associated with water the boisterous Songkram festival in the Northern towns of Lanna and Chiengmai everyone big or small take part in throwing water at each other. Quite often different kinds of dyes are mixed into the water and those becoming targets of drenching return home in carnival colours.

Boat races are held on many rivers like Chao Phya in the capital city of Bangkok.

In Myanmar, Buddhist religious practices play a dominant role where the laity consider visiting the Vihara compulsory on the New Year day and offer food and pirikara to the Bhikkhus. The Myanmar Buddhist consider ordaining a child as a samanera on the New Year day a great blessing.

The Sangha in return bless the people for good health, long life and prosperity and peace and harmony in society.

Draped in their cloth and coat and cloth jacket both men and women throw water at each other in towns and villages and in the locality of their residences.

Later they all get together for a sumptuous meal with rice and curry and fruits and sweat delicacies.

In Laos, those visiting the Vihara takes the viharadhipati in a palanquin and go in procession where those lining up along the way pay their homage and often offer pirikara.

Buddhist Laos also witness helping the Bhikkhu Sangha to bathe providing hot and cold water and other needs.

Buddha statues in the Vihara, are bathed in fragrant water and cleaned and re-installed for homage by the devotees.

The New Year festival in Laos ends with offering sanghika dana followed by those visiting partaking of food and beverages left by the Bhikkhu Sangha.

In Japan, the oriental New Year festival starts with a religious note on April 8. It is called the "Hana Matsuri" or the cherry blossom festival.

Everywhere in Japan the entire skyscape becomes colourful with the blooming cherry flowers. This day is called the birthday of the Buddhas according to Japanese tradition.

Japanese Buddhists visit the temples quite early in the morning to bathe the Buddha statues and the statues of Bodhisatta, Prince Siddhartha.

In their own Buduge at home the Japanese Buddhists bathe the statues with fragrant water and seek the blessing of the Buddha for peace, happiness and long life in New Year.

In many parts of India, the Hindus walk to the nearest river for bathing in the early hours of the day. All rivers considered sacred flower petals are thrown into the river and after bathing the Hindu family pay puja at the kovil before returning home.

The oriental New Year particularly in Sri Lanka is a festival where non-violence is the main feature of all activity.

Pure and simple vegetarianism come to play giving pride of place to nature, natural way of life and to the protection of the environment - the birds and the beasts as well. No other festival can boast of such a claim. 

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Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
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