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Sinhala and Hindu New Year celebrations

Getting ready to usher in the New Year

Another Aluth avurudda or Chittirai varshapirappu will soon be ushered in, with new hopes for a wonderful year filled with happiness and prosperity.

The sound of the koha, the sweet scent of the erabadu flowers, and the smell of the traditional sweetmeats envelope the entire neighbourhood in a spirit of festivity. Many of you might be anxiously counting the days to have fun with your friends and neighbours, play avurudu games, eat the mouth-watering sweets and visit relatives, where you will be showered with gifts...

When the sun moves from the Meena Rashiya (House of Pisces) to the Mesha Rashiya (House of Aries), it signals the dawn of the Sinhala and Hindu New Year.

Have you ever wondered why this New Year doesn't begin at midnight on April 13, like the New Year on January 1, that is ushered in at midnight on December 31? Because the Sinhala and Hindu New Year begins at the time determined by astrologers. Not only the beginning, of the new year, but the conclusion of the old year is also determined by them.

New year celebrations are mostly connected with farming, because in the past, that was the main source of income in the country. This season is a festival season for all the people, including the Christians, because one of their most significant religious events, Easter, also falls in the month of April. Did you know that New Year is celebrated in this month, also in India, Iran, Myanmar, Thailand, Taiwan, Japan and China?

Preparations for the New Year in April start as early as January. People go shopping for new clothes, house appliances and ingredients for the various traditional sweets that they will be preparing for the festival.

They whitewash or colour-wash their houses to give them a new look during this time. In ancient times, as people lived mostly in wattle and daub houses, they applied cowdung on the floor and clay on the walls to give a brighter look to the house. Even today, those who live in such houses follow these practices. They also thatch new roofs for their houses using coconut leaves. Those living in modern houses clean them up and do the necessary repairs.

In the villages, all the people get together and help each other to repair their houses, and make sweets. The bottom line of all this is, that for the New Year, nothing should be kept unclean and unsightly. It is a cue for the people also to start their lives afresh, with new thoughts and ways.

Before making the sweetmeats, our villagers used to make the coconut oil they would need to prepare sweetmeats, from their own produce. For this purpose too, the immediate neighbours gathered together and scraped the coconuts. The kids who have loads of fun and frolic during this time drink the coconut water until their bellies get bloated out like balloons! Then they jump up and down, and listen to the water gurgling in their tummies.

The day that the house is cleaned and washed is also a great day of fun for the children. Villagers don't clean their floors with wet cloths or mops, like we do nowadays. Instead, whole buckets of water are splashed on the entire floor. And children just love to have a go at it, splashing themselves with water. Well, who doesn't enjoy frolicking in water?

Before the New Year dawns, the hearth too is cleaned and the ash is removed, because, we are not supposed to light the hearth during the nonagathaya period. It will be lit again only in the New Year, at the auspicious time. These are just a few of the preparations we do for the New Year.

Hindu women folk too have a great time, designing Kolam in front of their front doors. It is said that by putting Kolam, they could get prosperity in the New year.

- Janani Amarasekera

Everything is done at an auspicious time

The whole country transforms itself into a grand festival during the Sinhala and Hindu New Year period. In both the young and the old, a spirit of enthusiasm is awakened, creating an enjoyable and happy atmosphere.

This is one of the most important festivals among the Sinhala and Tamil people, and is observed with age-old customs. The New Year begins when the sun enters the sign of Aries from the sign of Pisces in April, around the 13th or 14th, depending upon astrological calculations.

Every household gets ready, preparing sweetmeats or rasa kevili for the occasion. They include kavum, kokis, athi rasa, aasmi, kalu dodol, aluwa, munguli and weli-talapa. Ripe plantains along with the various sweets adorn the tables in all Sinhalese houses.

Every visitor to a house on New Year day is treated lavishly with sweets and tea. On their departure, every individual, young or old, is given a gift of coins wrapped in betel leaf.

All activities during avurudu are conducted according to auspicious times. Astrologers prescribe a time to stop work for the old year, on New Year's eve. Before this time, the last meal should be taken, and all pots and pans have to be washed. The hearth too has to be cleaned and the floors washed. Even the last bath has to be taken before the passing of the old year.

The time from the moment that all work is ceased until the dawn of the New Year, is called the Nonagathaya. It is the time to devote in religious activities. During the nonagathe, no work is done, and even the hearth is not lit. Lighting the hearth for the New Year is done at an auspicious time. Dressed in white, and carrying flowers, everyone goes to the temple during the nonagathaya time.

The next big event takes place in the kitchen with everything ready for the making of kiribath. Housewives wait for the auspicious time to light the hearth.

Usually, the housewives are dressed in new clothes (in the auspicious colour prescribed) and the hearth is lit facing a specified direction at the precise time indicated by astrologers.

When the temple bells start to peal and the burst of fire crackers fill the air, everyone knows that the auspicious time has dawned. This is the first fire which is lit after the nonagathaya. A pot of milk is boiled in a new clay pot and allowed to spill over (kiri uthurawanawa). The milk rice for the meal is then cooked using the same milk.

In some parts of the country, such as in Kandy, another meal is cooked along with the kiribath, this is a curry called the Hath Maluwa that has seven different flavours. This is considered as a delicacy prepared during New Year time. Other sweetmeats especially prepared for the festive season are made in advance to serve the visitors who drop in.

A pure white cloth is laid on the table and a lamp will be lit at the auspicious time, before partaking the first meal in the New Year. The first meal also has to be taken, facing a certain direction prescribed by astrologers each year.

After the New Year meal, all the young members of the family worship the elders, offering a sheaf of betel leaves. The elders give some money to the youngsters, blessing them with good health, happiness and prosperity.

The first bath for the New Year also has to be taken at an auspicious time, usually two days after the dawn of the New Year. For this, a special herbal oil is brought from the temple. The head priest of the temple or an elderly person anoints this oil on the heads of others with blessings for long life. It is known as Hisa Thel Gema. Then they take the first bath.

Work is undertaken at an auspicious time (wada allanawa). A tree with milk sap is symbolically cut. There is a saying that the job got done like having stuck a milk sap tree. The act is to bring good luck in all the endeavours one is engaged in, during the New Year. Other work such as planting, reading and a basic money transaction (ganu-denu) are also done for good luck.

- Chamitha Kuruppu

Auspicious times for Avurudu

Sighting of the New Moon

The auspicious time to see the New Moon for the coming lunar year fell on Friday, March 31; for the solar year, this will be on Sunday, April 30.

Bathing for the Old Year

This should be done on Thursday, April 13, after the application of the juice of bo leaves on one's head.

Dawn of the New Year

The New Year dawns at 6.49 a.m. on Friday, April 14.

Punya Kalaya (time for religious activities)

The period between 12.25 a.m. on Thursday, April 13 and 1.13 p.m. on Friday, April 14 is deemed to be the Punya Kalaya or Nonagathaya. It is advised to give up all work before 12.25 a.m. on the 13th and engage in religious activities such as visiting the temple.

Lighting the hearth and cooking the first meal

The custom of lighting the hearth falls at the auspicious time of 7.14 a.m. on Friday, April 14. Lighting the hearth should be done wearing colourful clothes and facing the South. It is customary to prepare milk rice using sesame and other traditional accompaniments.

Commencement of work, first transaction and consumption of the first meal

The first meal should be consumed at 8.24 a.m. on Friday, April 14, wearing colourful clothes and facing the South after commencing work and other transactions.

Anointing oil

It is advisable to anoint the juice of nuga leaves on the head at 7.39 a.m. on Saturday, April 15 while standing on karanda leaves, with nuga leaves hanging over one's head. The person being annointed with oil should be facing the South, while the recommended colour of dress is blue.

Leaving home for work

The auspicious time to leave home for work falls at 6.35 a.m. on Thursday, April 20. People should wear gold-coloured clothing and set off facing the North, after consuming a meal of moru and milk rice.

Courtesy Subasetha

Hindu New Year rituals

Just like the Sinhalese, the Hindus in Sri Lanka will also celebrate the New Year on a grand scale. According to the Wakkiya Panjangam (almanac) the name of this New Year is Viya. The Hindu New Year will dawn on April 14 at 5.01 a.m.

During Vishu Punya Kalaya, before the dawn of the New Year, all Hindus will clean themselves by bathing and applying Maruthu Neer, a herbal paste made in the kovil. Vishu Punya Kalaya will be between 1.01 a.m. on April 13 and 9.01 a.m. on April 14. Worshipping and offering poojas take place once the cleansing is done.

Hindus also wear new clothes. Just like the other rituals, the colour of the clothing is recommended in the almanac. This year the colour will be white. Any white clothing with a touch of yellow is permitted. Recommended jewellery for this year is gold jewellery with pushparaga stones.

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. The auspicious day for Kai Vishesham is April 14 and the auspicious times are 8.31 am to 10.22 am and between 5.57 pm and 8.43 pm.

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.

- C.K

Rare avurudu rituals

We all know that there are many customs and rituals associated with the Sinhala and Hindu New Year. But did you know that some of these rituals are rare and inherent to certain areas in the country?

We all know that 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.

These 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.

In some parts of the country, another rare, but interesting ritual takes place.

Once the New Year has dawned, and before the family begins to partake of the meal, each family member picks out a bit of every item of food on his/her plate and gathers them in a piece of banana leaf. This will be taken outside the house and placed on a high elevation, away from cats and dogs. Here again, the village folk believe that unseen ones, the spirits of the dead, enjoy the food.

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 village folk, so they conduct the first ganu-denu for the year with the well. They wrap a few coins, a bit of milk rice and some flowers in a piece of clean cloth and put this into the well. Thereafter they would draw the first bucket of water.

- C.K

Traditional sweetmeats, your favourites...

'Aluth Avuruddha' is around the corner and the mouth-watering aroma of the various traditional sweetmeats which are being prepared mingles in the air. One wonders if the belief our ancestors had that a Prince of Peace called Indradeva descends upon the Earth to ensure peace and happiness during this time, has any connections with the significant place kiribath has during the season, or any other auspicious event, for that matter.

It is said that he comes in a white carriage wearing a white floral crown, seven cubits high. He first plunges, like a returning space capsule does, when breaking through Earth's gravity, into a sea of milk or kiri. Could he be the one who brings sweets for you too?

That first meal prepared for the New Year is kiribath which could be eaten with either red chili sambol, that we know as katta sambol or with jaggery. It can also be eaten with the curry called the hath maluwa that has seven different flavours as it's made with seven types of vegetables. It is considered a delicacy which is prepared during the New Year.

We know that kavum and kokis are just two of the popular traditional sweets made for the New Year. Let's check out the other sweetmeats people make for the New Year.

Normally, the Aluth Avurudu Mesaya (New Year table) is laid with kiribath, kavum, kokis, athiraha, aasmee, aluwa, mun aluwa and various other traditional sweets. Something that's never forgotten is the ripe plantains.

Our ancestors believed that kavum should be prepared by the housewife; and not bought from outside, the way it is done today by most people, due to convenience. During the King's era, all the higher officers had to bring gifts for the New Year. Among those gift items kavum, was a must. Maybe, the King might have been really fond of kavum and made it a rule, so that he could eat kavum to his heart's content during this time.

Since oilcakes or kavum is one of the major traditional sweetmeats we make during the New Year, we'll try to give you some interesting information about oilcakes, such as the different varieties, how they are prepared, and beliefs connected to oilcakes.

Oilcakes are generally prepared using rice flour, mixed with treacle and fried in coconut oil. After pouring the batter for an oilcake into a piping-hot pan of oil, the shape of the konde (a women's knotted hair) is taken using a thick spike or an ekel. Oilcakes are taken out from the pan when it becomes golden colour. This needs much skill. Sometimes the kavum, your grandmother makes might be nicer and tastier than the kavum that your mother makes.

There was a belief in the past that if we eat hot kavum just out from the pan, the evil spirits will come to our soul, and also that if we keep a pot of water by the side of the pan with boiling oil, less oil will be burnt.

Believe it or not, 18 kinds of kavum were made in the past!

Some of them are sedhi kavum (kavum made using the spoon), mun loalu (kavum made with green gram flour), ulundu kavum (kavum made with ulundu flour), utupu (kavum made with a coconut shell), and the most popular variety we have even today, konda kavum, the upper part of which resembles the knot of hair, naran kavum (which take the size and shape of a mandarine), undu kavum and diya kavum (liquid food made for people who cannot digest solids).

Garuppu Kavum is a variety that came after the arrival of the Europeans. As the name implies, this is made using a fork. The rarest variety in the modern world, is pana kavum. This is made of scum (floating matter on liquid or waste part of anything). It took the shape of a comb.

However, oilcakes or kavum isn't the only sweetmeat we make for the New Year.These are all Sinhala sweets we featured up to now. Now we'll see what our Hindu friends prepare for the festival.

They make a special dish called Maanga Pachadi. This dish is made of raw mangoes, jaggery and neem flowers. It has a sweet, sour and also a bitter flavour. This signifies the different aspects of life. Another meal they make is Pongal. They make it as a thanksgiving to the Sun god.

This is a sweet rice made, with new red rice, jaggery, cashew nuts, ghee and plums.

Isn't it mouthwatering? Young or old, most people really love eating these sweetmeats, because they are not only delicious, but also nutritious, as they are blended with indigenous food.

- J.A.

Games people play...

The sweet melody of the koha, the avurudhu bird, which echoes throughout the land continuously reminds us of the dawn of the best time of the year; New Year, a time for rejoicing, visiting loved ones and for reconciliation of old grievances, is close at hand.

It is the time to say goodbye to the same old cricket, netball, football and basketball games that most of you may have been playing all this time. Now is the time to focus on the many national games that are played especially during the New Year season.

Among the national sports activities organised during the festive season are Onchili pedima, kalagedi sellama, olinda keliya, porapol gehima, mallawa pora, ali pora, gon pora, lanupora addima, rilapeti pedima, dadu gasima and many other games of interest, to make the festival a fun-filled event. They are games of both individual and team skills, at the end of which, the winners celebrate their collective prowess in a victory parade across the village.

It is believed that otte iratee, a popular children's game played during the festive season is one of the oldest games of the human race. It is said that this game was played even in the Palaeolithic Age by ancient Greeks and Romans.

Games such as kawadi are played for stakes by both males and females. The scoring by means of runners was done on a drawn up on a chart plank or on cardboard.

Playing cards and draughts is also a pastime exclusively of the menfolk. They choose to play these games either in the open air or seated on mats inside the house. Women play olinda, a common indoor game on a special olinda board.

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.

The New Year is a time for rejoicing and enjoyment. In villages a Bak Maha Ulela or festival is organised where everyone gathers for sport and celebration. Traditional games such as climbing the greased pole, pillow fights (kotta pora), raban (tambourine) contests, gudu and elle (similar to baseball) are played competitively.

Pora-pol gaheema is a contest between two teams, each taking it in turns to throw a coconut until all the nuts on one side are broken. The winning nut will be kept in the temple.

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.

A game played by smaller children is gudu keliya. The equipment for the games are a propelling stick about two and a half feet long and a smaller one about six inches in length called kuttiya. A small hole about three inches is dug on the ground, across which the kuttiya is placed.

The player then inserts the longer stick beneath the kuttiya and propels it as far as he or she can. The rival players are spread out in the field in order to catch the kuttiya while it is still in the air. If any of them succeed, the striker is scored out.

The side scoring the most stick lengths wins and is entitled to penalise the losers. The losers have to run to the kuttiya when the winning team throws it in the air. The losers have to run back to the propelling hole repeating the word gudu gudu without inhaling.

The elders prepare swings on the branches of overhanging trees for the enjoyment of both young and old. They sing swing songs, which is known as onchili waran, while the swings sway to and fro reaching great heights. Just like onchili waram, lee keli and kalagedi natuma are some of the exclusive pastimes which are sadly not practised anymore.

Compiled by Chamitha

The all important betel leaf

At no other time of the year is there such a demand for betel as at the Sinhala and Hindu New Year time. Betel is a must at New Year, for it is an essential item in the observance of an important custom.

At New Year, when families get together at the parental home, children pay their respects to parents, grandparents and any other elders staying with them, by offering a sheaf of betel. Nephews and nieces on their New Year visits, will bring along sheaves of betel to greet and pay their respects to uncles and aunts.

Employees will visit their employers and offer them the bulath atha - the sheaf of betel. Forty leaves make up a bulath atha but this number is rarely adhered to today. It doesn't really matter if the sheaf has only 20 leaves or even less.

What is important is the act of offering the betel, and it should be given with both hands, with the stems towards the receiver. The giver then falls at the feet of the receiver or bends his/her knees and pays his/her obeisance.

The receiver - parent, grandparent or master - will give a gift in cash wrapped in a betel leaf. Little children look forward to receiving a shining new coin wrapped in a betel leaf.

The offering of betel is also a symbolic gesture, of saying sorry and asking to be forgiven for any wrongs committed during the past year. When there is some displeasure between two persons or families, the younger person will visit the older one, and greet him/her with a sheaf of betel. The elder accepts it and it is a sign that all ill-feelings have been erased and past wrongs forgiven and will be forgotten.

It is not only at New Year that we offer betel to elders as a mark of respect. When schools re-open after the April (New Year) holidays, children in rural schools and some urban schools too take a sheaf of betel to give their teachers.

Some offer betel to the principal and class-teacher at the beginning of the school-year. But this happens in almost every school on Teachers' Day - October 5. Buddhist, Catholic or Protestant, they all offer the betel.

Offering a sheaf of betel is also a form of greeting. Special guests at prize-givings, ceremonial openings of buildings, and inaugurations of new projects are greeted with a sheaf of betel.

In days gone by, it was a patient's custom to offer the physician - the Veda Mahattaya - a sheaf of betel, before consulting him. This was a way of respectfully asking him for medical help. In the traditional society, physicians did not accept money. Healing the sick was a social service expected of the physician. But gradually, as society changed and money was needed for day-to-day living, patients began to offer cash - the maximum being five rupees in those early days - placed in the sheaf of betel.

The amount increased as the years went by. I asked an Ayurveda physician in Colombo, whether the custom of offering betel still prevails. "No, no," he said, "not in the last 20 years or so." "Why?" I asked. "For two reasons," he said, "hardly anyone chews betel today, and betel is very expensive. Even a quid of betel - bulath vita - is Rs. 10."

Offering betel was also an invitation. A householder will offer a sheaf of betel to the Head Bhikkhu - Viharadhipathi - to invite him to a bana or pirith ceremony.

Again it is customary to offer a bulath wattiya - a wicker tray - of betel to the monks thus assembled, requesting them to begin the chanting. We do the same to the monk who has come to deliver a bana sermon.

A kinsman is invited to a family wedding by offering a tray of betel. The kinsman by taking a leaf, accepts the invitation.

No leaf has so important a place among our customs and traditions as this humble leaf.

The betel leaf is used to decorate the pirith mandapa. The bride and bridegroom offer betel - as a mark of respect - to parents, aunts, uncles and other elders. It is an important part of the poruwa ceremony."

Betel-growing is confined to home gardens and small farms and certain districts.Gampaha and Wariyapola in the Kurunegala district are betel-producing areas. Today, it is a very profitable cultivation as there is a good demand for our betel in Pakistan.

- Sumana Saparamadu.

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