Avurudu festival in Asian lands

Nemsiri Mutukumara

Asian countries: 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.

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

In South Asian countries where Buddhism and Hinduism predominate the April New Year is recognised as the beginning of the Salivahana Saka era. The Orient where the lunar and solar systems enjoy equal status gives equal recognition to both the Sun and the Moon.

In villages in the deep South and in the interior rural areas the traditional Sinhala games like chak-gudu, pora-pol, tug-of-war, played by men, and onchillava (the swing), by both men and women, raban-gesima and panchi-demima mainly by females come to limelight during the Aluth-Avurudu festival focusing the attention of the simple folk as well as the sophisticated elite.

Visiting the elders is the order of the festival. Everyone visiting their elders and relatives carry with them a bulath-hurulla (betel leaves) and gifts for the New Year. They in turn become recipients of avurudu gifts from the elders.

These customs are certainly a vibrant religio-cultural facet of the Sinhala and Hindu society. In countries in the golden triangle - Myanmar, 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 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, the King 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.

The Water festival is the main feature in 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 Sanghika dana they partake of the food after the offering.

The 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 gaiety. The New Year festival is called the Songran festival.

In Thailand where the population is over 95 per cent Buddhist, the minorities join the 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 bathe the Bodhi tree with perfumed water. Carrying flowers and incense they venerate 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 Songkran festival in the Northern towns of Lanna and Chiang Mai 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.

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 Buddhists 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 take the Viharadhipathi in a palanquin and go in procession where those lining up along the way pay their homage and often offer pirikara.

Buddhist Laos also witnesses helping the Bhikkhu Sangha to bathe. 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 on 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 shrine 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 the 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 are 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 comes 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.

The late Nemsiri Mutukumara was an Associate Editor of the Daily News who specialised in writing about religious and cultural affairs. The above article was extracted from one of his regular contributions to the Daily News.