The Island By Rohana R. Wasala
The Aluth Avurudda or the Sinhala Hindu New Year day falls on the 14th of April every year. But the day before the Avurudda – the 13th of April – is also important because it is observed as the Parana Avurudda or the Old Year. So, the Aluth Avurudda is actually a two-day affair. But unofficially it spans even a longer period, for the celebrations go on for a number of days after the main event on the 14th of April.
The customary rites and rituals (e.g. lighting of the hearth, cooking and partaking of milk-rice, transactions, etc) performed at the given auspicious times on the New Year day are followed by a wide range of other activities: exchanging visits, meals, and gifts with relatives, neighbours, and friends; traditional forms of entertainment including singing and dancing, playing on the swings, kotta pora (an event in which two players straddle a horizontal bar face-to-face with one hand behind their backs try to topple each other by hitting them with a pillow), and bello demima (a form of fake gambling using a handful of cowry shells); sports activities both old and new (e.g. elle - a traditional game similar to American baseball, and bicycle races). The ritual known as hisathelgama or anointing medicinal oil on the head indicates the great importance attached to the maintenance of physical health and personal hygiene in our culture (The auspicious time at which this is done is for "bathing and anointing oil").
Read more »
No comments:
Post a Comment