Awaiting the dawn of the New Year!

It was exactly four weeks ago that I heard the cuckoo for the first time this year, reminding me that the New Year was only a month away.

Others may have heard it earlier, but my diary entry is on March 13. I always make a note in my diary of such usual or unusual happenings in nature, like this year’s rain in early February which is usually a dry month.

I can hear the cuckoo even as I am writing this, which you’ll be reading a week later, on April 13. When I hear the cuckoo’s cry, the words of a popular song come to mind.

‘Koho Koho, Kohey indang
Koho kiyana vadho
(‘Cuckoo, from where are you crying out ‘koho koho’)

Apay gamay raban paday
Umbata ahena vado
(Can you hear the beat of the rabana in our village)

Then I begin to tap another ‘raban pada’ with my finger on the table.

‘erabadu mal mottu mottu
avuruddath kittu kuttu
(‘Erabadu buds a plenty and new year’s round the corner.’)

Erabadu (Erithrina indica) blossoms in the dry season, in mid March buds appear and in late March or early April they burst open. There aren’t many erabadu in Colombo now. Have you seen them in your neighbourhood? The red flowers are very striking. That’s why the tree is called the ‘coral tree.’

Like the erabadu flowers that bloom in late March or early April, most flowering trees are also in full bloom, heralding the New Year.

Today is the beginning of a new year three weeks after the vernal or spring equinox, March 21. In your calendar, today, April 13 is in red. All Sundays are in red. You’ll see the words ‘Sinhala and Hindu or Tamil New Year’ printed over orunder the numeral 13.

It is not only we in Sri Lanka (the Sinhala and Tamil people) who are celebrating the dawn of a new year today. Countries across the Bay of Bengal - Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos - are celebrating the New Year. Buddhists in Bangladesh too will be celebrating New Years’ Day today. (See page 16 for more details)

However, this is not a Buddhist Festival like Vesak, or a religious festival like Easter or Deepavali, nor does this New Year’s Day vary from year to year, like Easter Sunday or Deepavali.

The Sinhala and Hindu New Year begins on April 13 in the Gregorian, a Western calendar which has now become the global calendar in daily use. Easter Sunday and Deepavali vary every year; is for instance Easter Sunday determined by the date the Sunday falls after 40 days of lent.

A solar year

The new year which starts today is a ‘solar year’ - soorya varsha. It is determined by the movement of the Sun. According to astrology the Sun regularly makes a cycle round of the zodiac.

The zodiac is an imaginary area of the sky, divided into 12 equal parts, named after 12 groups of stars, and these are called the signs of the zodiac. They are Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces. Some of you may be familiar with the Sinhala and Tamil names of these signs.

When the Sun leaves the sign of Pisces (Meena), one cycle has ended and that marks the end of the year. A new year begins when the Sun enters Aries (Mesha) to begin a new cycle or round of the zodiac. And this happens every year on this day. The exit from Pisces (Meena) and entry into Aries (Mesha) varies by a few minutes or hours, every year, but the day is the same. Occasionally this falls on April 14.

According to astrological calculations there is a short gap in time from the Sun’s exit from Pisces and entry into Aries. This period is called nonagatha, period of non transaction or no work; it is an indefinite time not the old year nor the new year. So all work should stop before the ‘nonagathey’ starts and nothing begun until the new year dawns.

This period is also called ‘Punya Kaala’ ,time for meritorious acts, and most people wend their way to the temple during the ‘punya kaala’ to offer flowers and worship the Buddha.

- Sumana Saparamadu