Sinhala and Hindu New Year:

Rituals unify the nation

by Edwin ARIYADASA

In this festival filled little isle of ours, the Sinhala and Hindu New Year celebrations take precedence over all other events. Almost everyone has a stake in them. For many, the New Year festival is an integral part of their traditional way of life. For others, it is a long State-decreed Public Holiday.

While we are engrossed with the celebrations, we are quite likely to overlook the most important fact - the New Year festival is mankind's oldest festival.

It all began right from man's earliest days on earth. Back then, he was quite close to nature. The changing seasons determined his routine of life. In Spring, nature was aglow with life. Plants and vines were green. Rivers and streams hurried on, sparkling in the sun. Warblers flitted about, practising their songs, after a period of silence. Life quickened, instilling joy, elan and gusto, into the spirit of those early humans.

In Summer, nature nursed them with its bounty. Hunting and gathering ensured plenty and satiation. Then came the Fall - the Autumn. The lively green leaves, turned sear and fell on the earth carpeting it. At this, early man experienced a tinge of regret.

Finally, Winter overwhelmed the Earth. The bird-song was hushed. Waterways fell silent and froze into white sheets. Trees withered into twigs. Life was totally smothered.

Bewildered by all this, Man lamented the failure of Nature. His only explanation was, that the great being who kept the world alive and lively, has died. Early man went about weeping and mourning, saddened by this vast loss. But, lo and behold, in Spring, once again he regained life. The world turned into green and the early man's joy did not know any bounds.

What is remarkable is the fact that, in all New Year festivals of today these twin aspects are reflected. The initial phase is a period of lamentation. In the second phase, man erupts with joy and begins a renewed life, with the risen God of Nature.

In the Sinhala and Hindu New Year celebrations, these two facets are vividly displayed. In the 'Old Year' segment, all pleasures are brought to a halt. The hearth is not kindled; food is not eaten; entertainment is shunned; people indulge in religious pursuits.

In the second phase, the New Year dawns. There is widespread jubilation; the hearth is kindled afresh. Invited guests initiate new life - by partaking of the festive meal and conducting transactions. Every routine of life begins afresh - and auspiciously.

In the Sinhala New Year festivities, the austere phase is described as the Nonagathe - the neutral phase. This is a reflection of the death of the God of Nature, in the ancient system of belief. In New Year celebrations, strange rituals are performed to depict the loss of nature's power and its joyous revival. In some villages in Ireland, the womenfolk tie up strong young men with ropes, to mark the loss of Nature's vigour. But, of course, they are united after a while.

We are lucky that in Sri Lanka Nonagathe rituals do not reach such extremes.

Modern people are so thoroughly alienated from the origins of the New Year festival, that they are unlikely to see the true significance of the rituals.

But, in the rural setting, to which I was born 87 years ago, the spirit of New Year was present as a living and palpitating entity. The spirit of New Year seeped into our total being, filling our souls with joyous expectations. Mothers would prepare sweet-meats, imparting a creativity to that domestic ritual.

Red buds of Erabadu herald the New Year. That is nature's advertising. The singing audio commercial is brought in by the cuckoo bird. In our early days, the bird was full of joy. But, today, I cannot help but detect a slight plaintive note in the cuckoo's song, heard occasionally in the city (for all I know, this could be my own subjective perception).

What is quite impressive is that, though the people may have forgotten the "why" of New Year rituals, they still adhere to some wholesome practices that have been long associated with the New Year festival.

For instance, there is the family reunion. Elders at home may feel immensely saddened if their children did not visit them during the New Year. The family reunion gives a vital meaning to New Year feasts. The names associated with the New Year celebrate the reunion of relatives.

The New Year ushers in a variety of indoor and outdoor games. The swing plays a central role. At times, the village community comes together to build a quaint swing. Past deeds are forgiven. The sheaf of betel becomes the symbol of love, respect and reconciliation.

New Year rituals unify the whole nation. It is a time when all the people perform the essential rituals at the same time. In the past, the auspicious hours were announced by the temple bell. Today, the electronic media (the radio and TV) have taken over this role.

During the New Year festivities, the media is a vital presence. They unify the masses into communal integration, by their proclamations relating to the auspicious hours. It is not at all an exaggeration to state that the modern media have steadily worked towards preserving our cultural heritage - especially those traits associated with our New Year festivities.

The extensive array of rites, rituals and activities that are an essential part of the New Year festivities have survived due to Sri Lanka's rural culture. Celebrating the New Year ritually, auspiciously and correctly has always been a primary rural prerogative. But, our villages are being urbanised at a fast pace.

In such a context, the traditional practices which were a living segment of the New Year festivities have begun to fade. The big cities have become more cosmopolitan resulting in our cultural identity getting steadily eroded.

Given such a pessimistic background, we cannot help but be grateful, that some media and commercial interests strive to keep these rituals alive.

New Year rituals represent esteemed human virtues. Deference towards elders, emphasising social and domestic harmony, readiness to forget past grouses and grudges, revival of traditional food-habits, and above all the deification of Natural phenomena are among some of the values, upheld by New Year rituals.

In Sri Lanka, religious institutions are central to the celebration of New Year. The sacred anointing of oil at an auspicious hour is a ritual in which the village temple comes into prominence. In the Old Year, throughout the ritual of observing Nonagathe (the neutral hour), the temple figures prominently, as this phase is set aside for the performance of religious practices.

Even in ancient times, priests dominated New Year festivities, both here and in other foreign cultures.

In the sacred mountain called Machu-Picchu in Peru, the ancient priests of the Inca tribe conducted a thoroughly dramatic New Year. The priests were aware that the masses were assailed by the fear that the God of Nature (the Sun in this instance) had deserted them. This was the result of the apparent movement of the sun. During a certain period of the year, the Sun seemed to be moving South.

This stirred a fear in the masses. The priests had secret records about the dates of the "apparent" movements of the sun. Using these records, they calculated the day the sun would appear to begin its return to the North.

The priests assembled the masses and held a ritual to bring back the sun. The priest would tie the sun to a pillar called the Indu Huatana to prevent him from going South. From that day on, the Sun would appear to start travelling back and the masses were happy.

In Sri Lanka too, New Year rituals pivot round the fact that the Sun transits from Pisces to Aries. (We know that the Sun does not move, but that the Earth revolves round the Sun).

The New Year festival could be observed as an ecological celebration, to make the masses adopt a more environment friendly attitude, as New Year festivals began around the view that the God of Nature dies and comes back to life.