Sinhala and Tamil New Year Festival
In Sri Lanka, new year celebrations start on the 13th of April and end on the 14th of the month. Sinhala and Tamil New Year is the biggest celebration in Sri Lanka that features a load of rituals and customs. This is one of the must things to experience on your holiday on the island. Based on the sun’s movement from the Meena Rashiya (House of Pieces) to the Mesha Rashiya (House of Aries) Sri Lankan welcomes the new year in April with a lot of firecrackers, fireworks, and gourmet of traditional sweets. The unique rituals and traditions are what make Sinhala and Tamil new year unique and memorable. The new year rituals start on the 13th with a ritual called the neutral period or Nonagathe. During this time people keep off from all the work and do nothing but engage in religious activities to get the blessing of their religion to prepare for the new year. Once the dawn of the new year comes the first ritual of Sri Lankans is lighting the hearth of the house to prepare milk rice; a must-have traditional dish on the new year feast that symbolizes prosperity. Food plays a major role in new year celebrations in Sri Lanka. A huge table with Kiribath, bananas, sweets like kavum, kokis, thalaguli, aggala, aasmi, aluwa, and many other traditional sweets become the centerpiece of any house. Every family in Sri Lanka enjoys the feast at an auspicious time after lighting an oil lamp. Starting work and exchanging money (Weda alleema saha ganu denu kireema) Once the family finishes the new year meal people do some work to symbolize starting to work in the new year. All these rituals are performed during an auspicious time. The entire country cooks eats, and engages in work at the same time.
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