Sinhala and Tamil New Year

Most countries around the world mark the New Year on January 1st. Yet around the world, there are many calendars celebrating various days to welcome the New Year..
In Sri Lanka, new year celebrations start on 13th of April and end in 14th of the month. Sinhala and Tamil New Year. The biggest celebration in Sri Lanka that features a load of rituals and customs is one of the must things to experience in your holiday on the island. Based on the sun’s movement from the Meena Rashiya (House of Pieces) to the Mesha Rashiya (House of Aries) Sri Lankan welcomes the new year in April with a lot of firecrackers, fireworks and gourmet of traditional sweets…The Sinhala and Tamil New Year is also known as the Sun Festival, a practice held for hundreds and hundreds of years now to honor the God of the Sun.

With such a long history, the festival is the best season to witness the core customs and rituals of Sri Lanka while enjoying enjoyable activities and traditional games that you cannot experience anywhere else.

Aurudu meals

When families clean and paint their houses, buy new clothes and presents for family members, preparations for this great festival start weeks in advance.The new clay pot in which the milk will be boiling on New Year's Day is a very significant purchase.Traditional sweetmeats such as Kavum (small oil cakes), Kokis (a crisp, crunchy sweetmeat), Aluwa (diamond shaped sweets made of rice flour), mung kavum and many others are also prepared in advance and stored in readiness for the great day. A cuckoo bird known as Koha (almost) is around this moment in its mating season and the male's special mating call is regarded as the harbinger of this festival.

Avurudu Rituals, Music and games

Presenting elders with a sheaf of Betel leaves and paying homage is a tradition observed in Sri Lanka, New Year included, on all significant occasions. Gifts are also exchanged and the remainder of the day is spent with members of the group visiting relatives and playing in New Year sports. A significant feature of the Avurudu celebrations is the Rabana, a large, flat drum, and it is played by groups of villagers, mostly women accompanied by lyrical versus raban pada.

Born and raised in beautiful villages all over the island, many in Sri Lanka leave their homes to find jobs in big cities. For all, the Sinhala and Tamil New Year is a time to return home and rejoice with relatives. People leave 

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