Sinhala and Hindu New Year celebrations:

Let children enjoy to the fullest

Anjalie Garnier

Yet another Sinhala and Hindu New Year has dawned.

The call of the Koha, the sweet scent of the Erabadu flowers and the smell of sweetmeats brings prior notice to prepare for the celebrations.

Let the children enjoy the New Year to the fullest by playing with their friends, visiting relations wearing new clothes, participating at Bak Maha Ulelas and enjoying sweets like Kavum, Kokis, Aasmi, Athirasa and cakes to name a few. This is what every child dreams of.

I remember how as a child I enjoyed the New Year customs and felt sad when the festivities came to an end.

Sinhala and Hindu New Year is an important festival where all the family members get together strengthening family bonds to observe age old customs. It is a time to forget all disputes and misunderstandings and start life afresh. It is the time to make New Year resolutions specially for children to set new goals in life.

The Sinhala Avurudda dawns when the Sun moves from Meena Rashiya to Mesha Rashiya completing a cycle of a twelve-month period. The transition time known as Sanskranthi takes place on April 13 or 14. It is during this period that some of the rituals are performed to mark this all important event of the year.

Fresh leaves appear on trees and there is greenery everywhere. Flowers bloom, vegetables and fruits are in plenty and birds sing in the air.

It is very important to observe our traditional new year customs because then only can our children follow them when they are adults. However, like many other festivals the commercial glamour brought by the business fraternity has spoilt the innocence, grandeur and spiritual aspect of the festival.

Commercial advertisers try to make the best sales during this period at times exploiting the situation using the children as bait in their advertisements.

They offer attractive bargain prices and easy payment schemes in order to make the maximum sales and profits.

Children are taught the value of sharing with the less fortunate neighbours and friends. It is a great opportunity to let them cultivate this virtue of sharing, caring and to interact with others which is a decreasing phenomena in today’s commercialised society.

The Sinhala and Hindu New Year is probably the only major traditional festival that is commonly observed by the largest number of Sinhalese and Tamils in the country.

Paying gratitude to parents and elders

The custom of offering betel to parents and elders demonstrates the act of paying gratitude. Children should pay their respects to elders by worshipping them. Children in turn receive blessings from parents and other elders. The sense of goodwill and friendship among relations and friends is also seen during the festival time.

New Year is a festival where people of all ethnic and religious groups in Sri Lanka could and should celebrate as a common national festival to foster national unity in Sri Lanka.

The event still remains a powerful symbol of renewal of hope for the future and reaffirmation of bonds with nature and commitment to the time-honoured values of our forebears. It is truly a celebration of life.

Avurudu has become an important national holiday for both the Sinhalese Buddhists and Tamil Hindu Sri Lankans.

Rare avurudu rituals

There are many customs and rituals associated with the Sinhala and Hindu New Year. It is interesting to find out that some of these rituals are rare and inherent to certain areas in the country;

On New Year’s eve, every house is cleaned and the ash removed from the hearth. A rare custom practised in several villages in the North Western Province is that once the cleaning is done, the ash from the hearth is placed in a winnowing fan kulla and kept outside the house until the dawn of the New Year.

Villagers believe in a mythical character called alu bokka who is ‘supposed to’ take all the bad and evil spirits away from the household, before the New Year dawns.

Another custom, observed especially in the southern part of Sri Lanka, is conducting ganu-denu with the well. Water and therefore, the well, is considered as sacred by the villagers, so they conduct the first ganu-denu for the year with perhaps a well in the vicinity. They wrap a few coins, a bit of milk rice and some flowers in a piece of clean cloth and place this into the well. Thereafter they would draw the first bucket of water.

Some of the customs of Sinhala and Hindu New Year

Parana Avurudda

Rituals connected with Aluth Avurudda commence with bathing on the last day of the old year Parana Avurudda.

Village temple

Most of the rituals are linked with the village temple. Children with their parents and other elders visit the temple during the time of Sanskranthi the transitional period when they believe that there are no auspicious times Nekath to engage themselves in different tasks.

This time is called Nonagathe during which people devote their time in performing religious practices. This period is called Punniya Kale that the people stop all their activities and visit the temple to accrue merit and get their blessings from the monks.

Auspicious time

Women facing the correct direction, light the hearth to prepare the traditional Kiribath. Prior to this, milk is boiled in a newly earthen pot symbolising prosperity. The milk spills over from all sides of the pot.

Another dish both young and the old love to eat is Hath Maaluwa that has seven different flavours which is considered as a delicacy prepared during New Year time. Other sweetmeats specially prepared for the festive season are made in advance to serve the visitors.

National sports activities

Some of the national sports activities taking place during the festive season are Onchili pedeema, kalagedi sellama, olinda keliya, porapol geheema, mallawa pora, ali pora, gon pora, lanupora addima, rilapeti pedima, dadu gasima.

Pancha is another popular indoor game played during the new year season. Pancha is played with five small sea shells, a coconut shell and a chart. Players are divided into two groups.

In Bak Maha Ulela traditional games such as climbing the greased pole, pillow fights Kotta pora, raban (tambourine) contests, gudu and elle are played competitively.

Pora-pol gaheema is a contest between two teams, each taking turns to throw a coconut until all the nuts on one side are broken.

Ankeliya is another common game preferred by teenagers. It is a more elaborate exercise than pora-pol gaheema and is essentially a community game where udupila and yatipila divisions are manifest.

Each contestant has a forked sambour horn which are interlocked and attached to a strong tree called the angaha (Horn tree). A rope is attached to the interlocked horns and both teams tug vigorously at the rope. The tugging continues till one of the horns would get damaged.

Hindu New Year celebrations

Hindus in Sri Lanka will also celebrate the New Year on a grand scale.

Hindu women enjoy designing Kolam in front of their front doors. It is said that by putting Kolam, they could get prosperity in the New Year.

Hindus also wear new clothes. Just like the other rituals, the colour of the clothing is recommended in the almanac. Everyone at home will eat sweet rice called Sakkara Pongal during the auspicious time. Later, the exchange of sweet meats and visiting relatives will take place.

Kai Vishesham is exchanging money within the family members. The head of the family will start this custom by exchanging money and blessing them with good luck.

A visit to the Kovil is a must, once the New Year dawns. It is said that Hindus always begin by worshipping and offering poojas to Lord Vinayaga to have his blessings in the coming year, for prosperity.

It is also customary to perform another ritual Er Mangalam, the ploughing ceremony. However, today, people observe this according to their occupations, the trader starting a new account or a businessman starting a new business or transaction.

All these customs are followed in good faith and with anticipation and expectations of prosperity and contentment, individually as well as collectively.