Anointing of oil to mark the New Year

Priyanka KURUGALA

The ceremony for the anointing of oil to mark the New Year, will be held under the directions of President Mahinda Rajapaksa and under the patronage of Prime Minister DM Jayaratna, at the Natha Devela in the premises of the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, Kandy on April 15 at 7.08 am, Indigenous Medicine Minister Salinda Dissanayake said.

He was addressing a press conference at the Mhilaka Medura, at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall on April 4. This ceremony will be collaboratively organized by the Indigenous Medicine Ministry, Ayurvedic Department and Central Provincial Council.

According to the Indigenous Medicine Ministry, the clothes to be adorned should be golden in coloured, at 7.08 a.m. on Sunday, April 15, facing the the South with Imbul leaves placed on the head and Nuga leaves under the feet. Oil and concoction mixed with juice of the Imbul leaves is better to be anointed on the head, while the bathing should follow.

The minister further said that 50,000 packets of concoction, 30,000 Litha in Sinhala and 5,000 Litha in Tamil had been distributed countrywide.

These items had been provided to 8,500 temples and 12,000 registered traditional doctors, he said. Apart from that, Buddhist organizations and other institutions who had requested for concoction and Lithas from the Indigenous Medicine Ministry would be provided, he said.

In addition, the ministry would distribute the New Year messages of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Prime Minister DM Jayaratna and message of the Indigenous Medicine Ministry to mark the New Year Festival. This National ceremony would be telecast on the National Rupavahini Corporation from 6.30 am that day.