Grand AVURUDU’S Past

Ruwini Jayawardana

It is that time of the year again. It is the period when the call of the koha (Asian Koel) is heard and the aroma of freshly made sweetmeats scent the air. Avurudu, known as the Sinhala and Tamil New Year, is a very special time for Sri Lankans. It is a time when people reach out to each other to herald a new season. Happiness and harmony take to the fore and old customs are rejuvenated.

For many of us in the suburbs this provides an opportunity to visit our village and reunite with family and friends.

It is also one of the few occasions in which today’s generation will be able to witness some of the fast dying traditions linked with the season. Customs took center stage at the time a few decades back.

The celebrations were more heartfelt and everyone got together to rejoice in the festivities.

Some prominent personalities of our country took us on a journey to the past by sharing their Avurudu memories of yesteryear.

Irangani Serasinghe
(Senior actress)

Everyone flocked at our ancestral home in Ruwanwella during this time of year. Our parents believed in following the values to perfection. Therefore we would perform the activities allocated for the auspicious times and wear the Avurudu colours.

One of my most significant Avurudu memories is that our father would even anoint our three elephants with oil every year. We would scatter ash pumpkin pieces in the garden for the koha.

My father and the villagers played gudu on the main road in front of our house. The women folk got together and made sweetmeats early but me and my sister used to polish off half of it secretly before the auspicious hours!

Edwin Ariyadasa
(Media personality and writer)

TS Eliot’s The Waste Land states that April is the best time of the year because Spring begins afresh. Avurudu is one of the oldest festivals in the world celebrated by Sri Lankans and evokes a sense of nostalgia in me. Today it is celebrated extensively due to the involvement of the electronic and print media which popularises the auspicious times and deeds. Such programmes bring the communities together. However in the past Avurudu was not artificial. People genuinely got together to celebrate the joys of the season by making sweetmeats, wearing new clothes and playing games.

I was the youngest in the family and would wait listening to the carts coming along the road at night. This signified the arrival of my brothers. Our astrologer would print the auspicious times on paper and hand it over to us. There was a deep awareness on the need to perform these rituals.

We were deprived of some of the things that we were used to but mercifully mother would hide some food for us children. It was ok to eat tit bits like that but serving food was prohibited.

Nature changes its outlook at this time of the year. In the past people did not know what was happening and why nature was dying when the seasons change from Spring and Summer to Autumn and Winter. Greek historian Herodotus recorded how people used to lament about this change. Today we have added various meritorious activities to the celebrations. We go to the temple to evoke blessings when the whole world starts living afresh.

Prof Sunil Ariyaratne
(Veteran lyricist, writer, filmmaker and senior lecturer of Sinhala Language, Faculty of Mass Media and Communication, University of Sri Jayawardenapura)

We used to visit my mother’s home in Arawella for the Avurudu holidays. The villagers engaged in various folk games. We were especially keen to ride the revolving swing which is operated by pedaling with your foot. It was quite a fascinating and frightening experience for us children.

The selection of an Avurudu Kumari from among the beauties in the village was another popular item. I was once requested to compere the event and by hearted all the lines praising women’s qualities included in the Sandesha Kavyas.

We made bamboo mortars and lit them at the auspicious times.

Sybil Wettasinghe
(Renowned children’s author and illustrator)

We usually get ready for the New Year around two months before the date. Parents would tie swings for their children and the villagers would bring out the furniture and throw buckets of water in and clean the entire house. Around 10 to 15 people would gather to make sweetmeats and about five or six of them would scrape coconuts. The nicest thing about this time of the year is the harmonious atmosphere.

I have written about my childhood experiences during Avurudu time in my book Child in Me.

It was translated into Japanese by a Japanese lady. She was so fascinated by the experiences described in the book that she visited my village, Gintota, Galle, to witness some of these incidents with her own eyes!

Nanda Malini
(Iconic vocalist)

We visited Lewwan Doova for Avurudu. This was a long journey and we start it off at the Maradana Railway Station many hours before the train is due to set off. Then we take a bus to Auvitthava . From there on we have to walk crossing foot bridges and paddy fields to reach our grandparents’ home.

Our house is located at the foot of a large rock. Our grandparents begin the auspicious time for transactions with the well. They dump a pot full of water scattered with a few jasmine flowers into the well and take a fresh pot of water back from it. This pot of water is then preserved by tying a clean piece of cloth to its mouth. It will be used to begin transactions for the next Avurudu season.

We had nine children in our family. Our aunts, uncles and cousins too gathered at our grandparents’ home during this time. Therefore it took a long time for us to engage in the rituals because youngsters had to worship everyone who is elder to them.

The betel leaves are plucked from our betel enclosure in the garden. We also gathered flowers to arrange in baskets to be taken to the temple.

It is pleasing to see that the children are at least making an effort to follow some of these traditions. It was easier during our time because our families were able to spend time together.

Dr Praneeth Abeysundara
(Senior Lecturer of Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Sri Jayawardenapura)

Though I was born and bred in Colombo we used to visit our father’s hometown, Balapitiya, for the Avurudu season. The 50-mile journey was the starting point of the much-looked forward to adventure. The whole family is united in our ancestral home.

All the sweetmeats were made at home. Weli Thalapa was especially unique to our region. The elders were very strict about following the rituals. We would perform the deeds according to the auspicious times, engage in religious activities and wear clothes of the required colours. That was how we were trained to be discipline.

Today Avurudu has become commercialised. All the sweetmeats and cakes are brought from a nearby shop. Children do not get the opportunity to experience the untarnished beauty of the season. We used to play in all wood near our home which had trees laden with ripe cashew fruit. This was how Martin Wickramasinghe described the revival of nature in books like Madol Doova. He wrote about the true beauty of nature. We enjoyed those splendours during our childhood.

Malani Fonseka
(Actress and MP)

Every New Year was special during my childhood because I celebrated it with my family. We would worship the elders by presenting them with betel leaves and play various Avurudu related games.

Those days we celebrated it as an extended family but today we see most people celebrating the dawn of the New Year with only the members of their family.

This is because we all lead hectic lifestyles. I am glad that they have at least made the effort to find time to celebrate the event in this manner.

Dr Sumathy Sivamohan
(Head of English Department, University of Peradeniya)

My recollections of the New Year are very sparse. My memories of Avurudu are about my adult life, living in Colombo and Kandy.

I see it as one of the most disconcerting periods of the year. The city goes bare and families are shut up within themselves.

I am immensely grateful to Muslim businesses. In the month of April, they keep life going in the city. If you suddenly want a photocopy of something, a scan or send a fax one has to go in search of a Muslim concern. Once I was travelling on one of the highways, and we passed town after town without coming across a proper eating place, until we came to a Muslim-owned eating place.

Culturally, socially and physically these shops keep us going during the New Year.

Ravindra Randeniya
(Actor and Presidential Advisor for Development of Cinema)

I was born into a semi urban area, Dalugama, Kelaniya. We visited our ancestral village, Sapugaskanda, for Avurudu. It was untouched by industrialisation and we used to pass rubber plantations and paddy fields on our way.

The atmosphere was similar to a carnival since the whole village is getting set to celebrate the New Year. You are able to hear the cuckoo’s call, see Erabadu flowers, smell the delicious aroma of food and eat ripe, juicy mangos plucked from the trees. These are signs that the earth is coming back to life in its full bloom. We see mother earth preparing for the new season. These happenings occur three of four days before the dawn of Avurudu. Though our family is Christian we automatically become part of the festivities. We too buy new clothes and get together to play elle or throw the dice with our friends. I appreciate the values linked with Avurudu and believe that it should be carried forward to future generations.

Avurudu has become just another day for most people today. The most significant thing about it is that it is a holiday for them. Following the traditions has become a mechanical process for them. They lack the emotional involvement found in rural villages.I cherish these memories of my childhood. They will be engraved in my mind for years to come.