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| Sunday, 10 April 2005 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Sinhala and Hindu New Year : The National festival by W.T.A. Leslie Fernando The Sinhala and Tamil New Year is an annual event that stimulates society, enlivens the nation and fosters national consciousness in Sri Lanka. Earlier this festival was celebrated mainly by the Buddhists and the Hindus. Now Christians too participate in New Year celebrations and in recent times it has become almost a nation-wide festival.
The Sinhalese have celebrated the New Year from time immemorial. Robert Knox writes that during his time, the New Year was a major festival of the Sri Lankans and it was celebrated in March. Festivals similar to our New Year in this season are found in India, Iran, Mynamar (Burma), Thailand, Taiwan, Japan, China and in some other countries in Asia. In the ancient world, two great civilisations arose from river basins. One was in Babylonia on the basin of river Euphratis. The other was in Egypt in the basin of river Nile. The lands between these two river basins were called 'Bible Lands' as they were figured in the stories in the Bible. The Passover celebrations had features similar to our New Year observances. In the New Year, at 'Nonagathe' people rest from work, fast and devote their time to go to the temple for religious observances. When the New Year dawns, they light the hearth at the auspicious time. They eat the first meal at the auspicious time, all the family members sitting together clad in the lucky colour for the New Year. There are auspicious times fixed for the anointing of oil ceremony, to set out for work in the New Year and to watch the new moon. At the Passover too, they rested and fasted before they lit the fire and sacrificed a lamb. Christ himself assembled in a house with his disciples to eat the Passover, when he was taken prisoner. At the feast of the Passover a woman anointed the feet of Christ with oil and this reminds us of the anointing of oil ceremony. Because of these similarities between the New Year and passover customs, there are some who contend that Passover traditions have spread to other countries and intermingled with their rituals to take the form of New Year celebrations. There is no proof whatsoever and no historical support for this contention. The New Year rituals relate far beyond the Passover festival. In the ancient world, the Egyptians worshipped a nature God called Osiris representing the cycle of nature in his death and resurrection. Worship of Osiris had its origin among the Mediterranean tribes, who associated him with the fertility cult. Semitic people including the Jews worshipped Osiris as a Sun God for his life giving power to the nature. There were ancient tribes in Asia who worshipped the Sun and Nature. They believed that when everything awakened with the arrival of spring, a new deity took charge of Nature. All the festivals during the New Year season could be traced to this concept. The worship of Osiris by the Egyptians, the idea of renewal found in the Passover, Easter and New Year seem to have germinated from the belief that the changes in Nature during the season were effected by the passing away of one deity and the arrival of another. There is a belief both in India and in Sri Lanka that at the New Year, a new deity called Avurudu Kumaraya took charge of nature. In some parts of Sri Lanka, they make an altar with tender coconut palms for the deity. In other areas specially in the South, a lamp is lit for the Avurudu Kumaraya. In some countries worship of the new deity and New Year is associated with harvesting ceremonies. Whatever the origins, the New Year is not a Buddhist festival though the Buddhists go to the temple at the nonagathe time. Strictly speaking there is no place for auspicious times in Buddhism. The main Buddhist festivals in Sri Lanka are Wesak, Poson and Esala. Besides Buddhist festivals are held on Poya days on lunar observances. New Year is a solar festival commencing with the entry of the Sun to the zodiac of Aries. New Year cannot be categorised as a Hindu festival either. It is a national festival of Tamils and some others in India, the Andhras Kannadigas and Malayalis in South India, though Hindus do not observe it. The Hindus in North India and the Himalayan region have their own dates for the New Year. According to Dr. P. Poolagasingham it is a misnomer to call the Tamil New Year as Hindu New Year. In the meantime there are some Catholics including some clergy who want to celebrate Easter and New Year together, as the theme of renewal found in New Year is found in Easter vigil and ceremonies. This is the worst damage that could be done to Easter, which is the greatest festival of the Christians. If New Year Easter were to be celebrated together, New Year rituals would dilute and undermine Easter observances. The pivot of Christianity is the death and resurrection of Christ. As St. Paul puts it "If there is no resurrection of Christ, the Christian faith would be in vain." (1 Corinthians 15). In no way should such a feast be eclipsed and overshadowed combining it with New Year. In fact a move by the Catholic Bishops' Conference in Sri Lanka to change the date of Easter when New Year falls during the Holy Week was rejected by the Holy See in the Vatican. There is now a general consensus in Sri Lanka to treat New Year as a national festival, though it is intermingled with Buddhist and Hindu religious practices. Since New Year is not a religious festival confined exclusively to a particular faith, it could be celebrated by all the religious and ethnic groups in Sri Lanka as a common national festival. Its unique features could be made use of to promote friendship and mutual understanding among the people. The Catholics, too could join with others to celebrate New Year as a common national festival. There could be a special Mass for New Year as it is done in some churches. It is heartening to see in recent times Christians joining New Year celebrations and taking part in traditional games and sport. New Year comes at a time ideal for a national festival in our country. Rains come after a period of hot and dry weather. Fresh leaves appear on trees and there is greenery everywhere. Flowers bloom, vegetables and fruits are in plenty and birds sing on the air. Harvesting is over, bounties are full and people have the time to celebrate. It is during this time of the year that many marriages take place in the villages. New Year is a festival where people of all ethnic and religious groups, Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims, Burghers and others in Sri Lanka could and should celebrate as a common festival to foster national unity in Sri Lanka. (The writer is a former High Court Judge) |
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Both Easter and New Year take place during the same time of the year. In
some years the New Year falls during or before the Holy Week, when
Christians commemorate the passion of Christ in a penitential atmosphere. In
that event, Christians join the celebrations after the Holy Week. 
