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Samwun (pronounced "Some-one") contemplates the new year of old and the new year of the present.

For Samwun's family, the new year was a joyous period. The celebrations always occured in the same format; They patiently follow the auspicious times. Samwun and his father would light a hearth and try their best to produce that 'mushroom' cloud of boiled milk erupting from the clay pot. His mother would prepare and lay down the 'avurudu' meal on the table. His sister would arrange the sweets they were dying to have. The high point of their 'avurudu' celebrations arrived in the form of a visit to their grandparents' house, where all the relatives gather for a day of fun, games and well wishes for the new year.

It was nothing but a traditional 'avurudu' day for Samwun - a ritual to his family from the dawn of the time. There was no reason whatsoever to change anything about it.

Then came the 'avurudu' of 2022.

Repeat. The family followed the rites. They waited for the auspicious times to a tee. The 'avurudu' meal was prepared to eat. They ate together at the table. The relatives assembled at Samwun's grandparents' house. They talked. They played. It was that time of the year again.

But it didn't feel the same.

Throughout the day, Samwun followed his new year script. Physically, he was present doing these traditions. But in his mind, he was elsewhere. He could clearly tell even his family was not present in the traditional 'avurudu' spirit.

No other time of the year defines the meaning of 'tradition' than the 'avurudu' season. But this new year had it all different. "Maybe it was because of the couple of difficult years we had", Samwun thought to himself, swaying slowly on the swing. "The people were beginning to see things differently once their eyes opened. They began to speak out once they grew tired of being ignored. How did this all start?" It was something that kept him up all day. His mind kept pointing towards that spark. A spark that began asking to change the tried and tested 'normal' for something new.

Samwun wasn't sure still. He couldn't tell if this spark was the change they desperately needed. "We've been told to mind our own business from day one. That has been the convention for a long time. It served well for us in the past. These traditions have prevailed by keeping those sparks down. Two sides of a coin can't end face-up together", Samwun reflected philosophically. Following traditions seemed much safer. Isn't it?

But Samwun kept pondering about the spark. He couldn't stop himself from looking around for that spark. And every day, he desired to see what the spark would bring today. Every picture he saw, every video he watched and every caption he read taught him something different. The more Samwun witnessed the spark's growth from afar, the more respect he built for the fire it had created. For years when he was playing out the same storyline, there was hardly any sense of fulfilment compared to anything the spark had been delivering. The spark virtually promised a new hope for many people like Samwun.

"Besides, isn't the new year supposed to be the start of new beginnings?", Samwun said almost audibly to the people around. He felt something else was brought into that 'avurudu' table of sweets and food, surrounded by rituals, rites and traditions. Perhaps for the first time, it wasn't just his stomach filled with sweets. "Our minds were filled with worry. Now they have become loaded with hope. Hope that something new and better will arrive. Something to celebrate for 'avurudu'."

"Samwun," his mother called him. "Do you want to go out somewhere tonight?"

Samwun knew where he should be. He will stand by the spark and its new hope on the day of traditions.

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It is April 13th, and I am still in my bed asking a question from me. “Should I be excited or not?” I got many feelings at once, but I cleared them out and tried to settle facts to better answer my question. I was a fan of Sinhala and Hindu New Year and I remembered how I enjoyed this season in previous years. We did every auspicious thing on time with correct directions wearing relevant colors. There was such hurry to do everything in the correct order within the given period. Everyone in the family engaged to do these things without hesitation because everyone loved it. I can feel that excitement now when remembering those smiling faces and preparation. My father cleaned the house before New Year’s Eve till last year and I helped him with everything I can. I also arrange my room beautifully without anyone’s help. My mother was so busy in the kitchen making that delicious milk rice. We were looking at the clock with a hunger every ten minutes, but we never ate before the auspicious time. When the time came, we were so happy to eat and do other auspicious things as a family.

So, If I asked the same question a couple of years back my answer would be a direct “Yes!” but now the story is different. We are not experiencing a favorable situation in Sri Lanka. Most of the citizens including me suffering from an economical crisis. I am making a list of problems in my mind and the list won’t stop. If I think from my brain, there are plenty of reasons to say “No!” to my question. This is just another traditional new year, but bigger things are happening now, and my focus should be there. This is not a good time to celebrate, and it is kind of inappropriate. Those are the things my brain tells me and justify its answer. Then I asked from my heart, and I got a different view for this question. Every year was very alike, and it was like doing the same thing again and again without any meaning, but this year is different. This year it is a challenge to be positive, think clearly, and be hopeful. If I can be excited today, I felt that maybe I can face any kind of new year with a great attitude. This is another traditional event, but I can make it meaningful for my life. I didn’t arrange my room yesterday, but I still got time.

I got up from my bed with lifted spirits to face any problem this year with a smiling face. My parents doing their best to do those things like in previous years. Father is cleaning the house and the mother is making her delicious milk rice. They seem to forget all their problems and enjoy the moment. I am on the other hand with a light of hope determined to celebrate this traditional new year like never before. The time came and we ate as one happy family, and I was determined to keep those smiles on my parents’ faces no matter what happens until the next new year celebration.

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“Kohooo… Kohooooo….”
“Ammaa… Did you hear the Koha’s Call. Woahhh!”

The Season of Prosperity has arrived. The sweet chirps of the Koel Bird never failed to captivate my mind. Perhaps it’s a Reminder of the start of the Sinhala Hindu New year season in the month of April. It’s said that the New year begins when the Divine sun moves from Pisces to aries. This is our culture's largest traditional event, in which the entire nation participates in rites at the same time (astrological calculations). In ancient times crops were harvested during this season. Thus it’s considered as the season of Prosperity. This eve consists of a variety of auspicious moments and astrological beliefs. Bounded with various Traditions & beliefs; the Sinhala tamil New year is treated as a Rich culture of our heritage. Of course, it appears to be superstitious. But, since I was a kid, these were the moments I treasured the most.

My experiences on this traditional new Year’s Eve have always been incredibly exciting. When I turn back and have a glimpse at my past, all the new Eves which have passed indeed created special memories in my mind. Everyone was dressed in new dresses of the same color. Sweet dishes and meals were abundant in our homes. I recall how nature reacted to the changing of the season. Everyone was contented. From the firecracker booms to the Family Mingles; everything seemed Vibrant and Colorful.

However this year was a bit different. Indeed all my previous experiences were vivid, but now my motherland is struggling from a massive economic crisis which affected each and every individual. As a result, this year’s Aluth Awurudda was a bit tough for all Sri Lankans. We didn't have plenty of meals as we used to have in our houses before. We kept our clothing choices limited. Of course, we participated in the rituals and rites... but something did not appear to be the same as before. We couldn’t rejoice with peace in mind. Most of our brothers and sisters are fighting and Protesting to achieve our own freedom as a nation. Each of us were thinking of a way to contribute to the protest as Sri Lankans. However the nature was the same; as before, beautifully and eloquently smiling.

The new year Month of April is also known as ‘Bak’. What Exactly is ‘Bak?’ it is said to be a Sanskrit word referring to Fortune and Prosperity.

When I think back on our history, I recall some divisions between our ethnic groups. Perhaps the Sinhala Hindu new year is a non-ethical celebration. But there were instances when we disagreed and divided. As they say ‘United we stand Divided we Fall…’. Where there is Unity there is prosperity. So I wondered for a moment... Isn’t this the true ideology behind celebrating the Bak Season? Isn’t this what we needed as a nation?

And this is the New Spark of hope that I have noticed in this year. The entire nation witnessed as Our dear brothers and sisters from all religions and races came together and united. They celebrated the new year together, and assisted one another. They even blessed each other, demonstrating our people's harmonious coexistence. This extraordinary behavior strikes my heart. I've never seen or expected anything like this at such a large scale. Indeed as a country we are striving hard with difficulties; but I sense a new spark of hope within our unity. This generation taught the world how peace and unity can triumph over evil hearts.

Despite all the hardships; I feel blessed and fortunate. My motherland's new sparks of hope are dependent on the unity and prosperity of her children. What i believe is that if we maintain this mutual alliance and harmony among our ethnic groups; We'll be conquering the world in no time. That’s how the Traditional Sinhala Tamil new year instilled expectations and Desires of a better future in my Mind.

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Finally, it’s time to celebrate!

After months and months of dedicated hard work at paddy field, the new year was the time to reap the harvest. Following it was the most glamorous and cheerful celebration, to laugh, sit back, and relax. Along with it were the ancient traditions to ceremoniously welcome the next year of enthusiastic hard work, that leads to enormous satisfaction.

So was the traditional new year.

The year has rolled on, and already four and half months have gone by. Yet the new year that is close to the heart is yet to arrive. Children might not start a new academic year, businesses might not consider it a new year, or new calendars might not be issued, yet relatives who didn’t even wish for the official new year will flock together at the family home, children will get enough time to cheerfully run around with their nephews and nieces, and exotic food from our ancient traditions will make a comeback. It is a time to relax, cheer up, and have a well-deserved rest.

So is the modern new year.

Whichever it is, it is the most joyous time of the year in Sri Lanka.

With time the traditions have altered, faded, or continues, according to the changing lifestyles of Sri Lankans. This has given life to some controversial ideas whether it is acceptable to modernize a traditional cultural festival. Is it really alright to not to wear the proper colour scheme allocated to the new year? Is it really alright to spend the Avrudu day in front of the television watching Avrudu games, without really participating in them? Is it really alright to start your job before it is allowed by the instructions in “litha”?

For a festival like this, what holds its utmost value is its core value. Accordingly, the festival is celebrated to welcome the new year, have a relaxing time, and to be cheerful altogether.

So in judging whether everything is still alright with the traditional Avrudu festival, we should be asking ourselves whether these core values are still preserved.

So is it still a time to welcome new year and to relax? Is it still the most cheerful time of the year?

Well, the answer for these from every Sri Lankan who celebrates this festival would be an enormous yes!

Yet, we should also be reconsidering whether the ancient practices that are still practical yet are forgotten with time were better implementations of these core values.

At times, sadly, we could say yes. Why, playing Avrudu games in your own family home would be much more fun than just watching those on television! In that case, it is important that we preserve the needful.

Culture is not static. It evolves every day, along with the human who invented it. That gives the humankind the ability to seek new heights. The avrudu celebration can evolve the same way. Only that Sri Lankan should be keen enough to make sure the old practices are put to death, or new practices are introduced for a justifiable reason, that will still protect the soul of this unique celebration.

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The new awakening of the trees is a harbinger of the dawn of the Sinhala and Tamil New Year. Not only that whole environment prepare for the New Year by wearing various colorful and sweet smelling flowers but also birds sing tuneful songs and arouse the whole world. The cuckoo (‘koha’) is the crier of the New Year festival. The coral tree plays a major role in reddening the environment. Those are special duties during the New Year season. They all have an aim. It is welcoming the sun who is going to “mesha rashiys” from “meena rashiya”.

As Sri Lankan we celebrate Sinhala and Tamil New Year with a lot of unique ritual customs. We stop all work and engage with religious work during the dawning of the New Year. It is a good beginning for all to their success. It teaches us to start any work after worshiping our own religion. After that we light our cooker at the same time together as a nation. Not only that, we eat our food at the same time as the whole nation. Those customs improve a lot of qualities and help to start an energetic and fresh New Year. We worship our elders by giving betel. We can’t change those good traditions because they lead to a well-built society. Those who teach to respect others and other ritual customs also give good lessons.

Most popular item of the Sinhala and Tamil New Year is “Aurudu games”. Tug-of war(kaba adeema), climbing the greasy pole, playing the rabana etc. are some team games which enhance the unity among people. Pillow fighting, eating buns, placing the eye on the elephant, breaking the pots(kanamutti) are individual games but give a good experience about our talents and skills. Most attractive event is “aurudu kumara and kumaree”. This is a great chance for young society to show their abilities and get experience in their lives. All these represent the traditional New Year background.

But if we can remember what those ritual customs teach us, we can change our lives. We can be successful people in the future. If we learn correctly, we know that we should pray for our religion before starting our work. We practiced to do work on time. We understood that unity won the games easily. So, we should find a spark for a new hope through the traditional New Year. We can’t ignore the traditional New Year completely because it is made up of huge unpredictable reasons. It is full of life lessons. Finally, the best way is the combination of tradition and new creativity.

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For most Sri Lankans, April signifies the most looked forward to annual celebration: the Sinhala and Tamil New Year. Contrary to the Roman calendar, this celebration follows a solar journey that begins at the shift of the sun from Pisces to Aries. This deviation from the Roman calendar does not inhibit a seasonal change. Rather, it is the time of Sri Lankan spring, especially when mating birds' birdsongs echo and the erabadu flowers bloom: it will be vermillion paint splatters on a canvas rich with lush greens and chunky ivory whites on sky blues with sound effects.

Sri Lankans have originally been attuned with nature, and as harvests pile up we tend to make the most of it. A highlighted food that doesn't have any racial bars is milk rice or kiribath, and together with many other delicacies; sweet or otherwise, they make up the new year's table.

Sri Lankans have many rights regarding the new year, which include indulging in our respective religions, a traditional monetary exchange symbolising the classic give and take principle, boiling a pot of milk to the point it froths up and over symbolising prosperity and acting as a base ingredient to the milkrice, visiting relatives and more. These traditions originally had very simple concepts and tasks behind them; and as time fogged them over we cherish them traditionally and give value to these simple tasks that we forget to take part in more often than not.

Gratitude and morals base most of the lifestyles we overlook and ignore, and while we cannot change the past or take back any harsh words or mistakes, what we can do is to atone for them. New year is a time to forgive and forget and start anew, and to those with even the basest form of personalities, each new year gives an opportunity to clean your slate and start back from scratch, or if you are already successful, to build on what you have already achieved. Material success is not all it signifies though; mental and religious presence and liberation are also goals for anyone celebrating the Sinhala and Tamil new year.

Every year has a fresh start, and this year, in addition to the cultural traditions, you might want to take a look back on your past year and notice what you could have been missing on your character certificate or moral code. Or better yet, you might even consider erasing last year from memory and starting this year with the best version of yourself. Put your lucky foot forward and smile at anything that comes your way, be it opportunity, challenge or obstacle. Set your goals. Pinpoint your limits, then go about exceeding them. Make this new year an opportunity to bring out the infinite potential that resides in each of us. Sinhala and Tamil new year does not pick out and favour; it gives and blooms. There is hope for everyone, you just need to ignite it within you.

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Everyone’s hope is for a revolution. A new era, a country which has put a stop to corruption. Today Sri Lankan’s are united and together with the determination of changing Sri Lanka to be livable again. We Sri Lankan’s who prided ourselves to be a country which built huge reservoirs stupas and many more incredible inventions, today are in the edge of bankruptcy. Sri Lanka is undergoing a huge economical failure, which has led to a shortage in many essentials in the country. But as I mentioned Sri Lankans are united as we were never before.

Sri Lanka has been inherited since the stone age. Sri Lankans have a written history of more than 2500 years. There were many successful kingdoms and kings who flourished the country with peace and prosperity. Sri Lankans were rich and in numerous ways. Today, the country is the motherland to people in many nationalities and religions. Our society is diversified and strong. Over the years we have developed an incredible rich culture of our own.

As a part of our culture Sinhala and Tamil new year plays a major role. For hundreds of years, it has been in our culture to celebrate ‘Awurudu’ in the month of April. It is the biggest celebration of the year and is capable of transcending the whole country into a traditional and eventful one filled with happiness and fun. In this celebration we welcome the sun from ‘meena rashiya’ to ‘mesha rashiya’. Each year going with the traditions every household is freshly cleaned and decorated. Once again the traditional sweets ‘kavum’, ‘kokis’, ‘aluwa’, ‘asmi’ finds their way to the awurudu table. Families and friends get back together and enjoy the new year with exciting traditional games.

Even though this is what a traditional new year looks like in Sri Lanka, this year’s celebration was a little bit different. Amidst the economical downfall in the country, shortage in power, gas, fuel and medical supplies have been created. Long queues for these basic needs have become quite regular in the country. The prices of the goods have gone massively up making it hard to survive for most of the people. Poverty in the country has gone up and the foreign income of the country has immensely dropped. That’s why people decided that enough is enough and that it’s time to stand up against the corruption dominating in this country.

In this new year, Sri Lankans have come to the streets to win back the human rights. Protests of people, especially the youth are going on around the country demanding for a government change. As bitter as it is, the protests are a positive sign of people waking up their voices demanding themselves to be heard. Majority of the people are more awake and aware than ever before. Sri Lankans are no longer blindly accepting what they see and hear. Today, the unity among the people of different nationalities is undeniable. We saw Sinhalese, Muslims, Tamils celebrating the new year together in the protest grounds. Sri Lankans have no room for racism any more in this country.

Whatever the results of this situation turn out to be, in this new year we are in for a new hope. The sparks are still glittering, waiting to shine

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Most of us have different associations with the Sinhala and Tamil New Year. As children, we remember all of us got together in this season to play games during the “Aluth Awurudu Uthsawaya”(New Year Festival). For our ancestors, this is the time of year where we are blessed with a bountiful harvest – so they began the ritual of celebrating it each year. For us adults, the middle of April usually means following all the New Year's rituals: preparing various sweetmeats, making our homes sparkling clean again, paying visits to friends and family.

Unfortunately, a lot of us missed out on this traditional New Year on April 2022. In our current situation, we had to face a lot of hardships. There’s a massive deficit of oil reserves in the country, so much so that we have regular power interruptions every day. Oil prices have skyrocketed overnight; many of our vehicles are sitting idle at home since we have trouble obtaining fuel. Furthermore, the cost of living has increased too. Thousands of people feel that the state is directly responsible for this situation, to the point where they have spent weeks protesting and demanding that the president and his cabinet resign.

It is an undeniable fact that the state has made some questionable choices in the past few years that had led to this economic crisis. Sri Lanka has requested too many loans from different other countries for development purposes. Consequently, the state has a low “dollar reserve”. Furthermore, the state depends heavily on tourism for foreign revenue. On hindsight, that turns out to be a bad decision, especially after the pandemic (which significantly reduced travel). Critics also insist that the congress turned a blind eye to economic experts who warned them of the impending crisis. All these reasons helped create the situation we know of as of today.

These problems have no short-term fixes. The government cannot take any immediate action to counteract this situation. In the same way, the protesting against the state will not achieve anything by itself. What we all need to concern ourselves with are feasible long-term solutions to our situation. The government wants to make a deal with the IMF for a possible debt-restructuring. There will be some hard compromises we have to make, but what we must remember is things are rarely as black and white as politicians make them out to be. Every solution has its faults. As fellow citizens, we must try our utmost to keep an open mind and try to see the world as it really is.

Whatever challenges we must face tomorrow, I am optimistic about the future. People are willing to care about national concerns and raise attention to them, as evidenced by the protests at Galle Face. It makes no difference where we disagree; what counts is that we are open to new ideas and concerned about our future. The fact that undergraduate students, the general public, and celebrities are all working together demonstrates how simple it is to achieve unity. We'll face whatever obstacles come our way as a team. So, whatever the future may hold, there is indeed a spark of hope for our future.

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“ Joy and Happiness are what come along with a new year “

Is it a valid statement by now? To be honest we all know that it is not.

When it comes to the term “ Sinhala and Tamil New Year “ there are several other terms that stick together with that main term. The repeated “ Koo-ooo Koo-ooo “ song of the Koel usually informs us of the beginning of the new year season. But alas ! this year it was not the koel’s song but people’s chanting which imitates a song based on crows which filled the whole new year season. And the sweets that colour up the every new year table were hardly there this time. The new year visits which used to rejuvenate the bonds were not the same this time. Though they took place the atmosphere was completely different. People tended to keep those new year visits as minimum as possible. And some people were not even in their own houses. Like this, we can point out the differences between a traditional new year and this year’s new year.

Simply new year is a season full of joy and happiness. So what if the joy is replaced by sorrow and happiness by the feeling of uncertainty? Though the time frame belongs to the new year, it won’t be a season of joy and happiness. That’s what happened this year. So this time we couldn’t experience a traditional new year. Instead of that, we are having a season of conundrums.

As human beings, we used to forget the cringy feelings that we had in the past with the entry of a joyful feeling. As an example suppose if we were experiencing a time abundant with hardships and suddenly things turn around and a time of prosperity has created, we will hardly ever talk about those past cringy experiences. But does that mean we should forget those hardships? Not at all. That’s where, as a nation, we failed. That’s what persuaded us to forget the issues in Infront of us and neglect to take relevant actions to overcome those issues. Although we knew about what would be ideal for us, we were deceived by power crazy rulers who lead us astray. Somehow from one new year to another, we were able to deceive our minds by fabricating fake hopes about a better future. But this time it was not the same. There was no room for positive thoughts at all. Our hopes were buried alive and we were forsaken.

The way we have come so far is wrong. We have to correct it and have to think out of the box. This time we had to sacrifice the traditional new year. But as a nation if we able to correct the way our country leads each and every day would be a part of the new year.

So there is only one way out. That is sparking for a new hope. If you want to start an engine, you need a spark. Without starting the engine it won’t function either. If our country is the engine and then this is the time we need a spark. And in the meantime, we should not forget the cause. The spark is to start the engine and not to burn it down.

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‘April’; typically considered as the ‘Month of Festivals’. Most Probably, the first thing comes to your mind would be “The Sinhala and Tamil New Year”, when you hear the word ‘April’. In Facts this is one of the most popular cultural festivals celebrated by Sri Lankans; especially Sinhalese and Tamils. Every year New Year Festival enlightens the sparkles of enthusiasm, excitement, joy of the people. Usually, children get their school vacation in the beginning of April and also lot of fun games related to new year come into the action. Surely this is a joyful period for them as well.

The word ‘New’ means the novelty or something not existed before like idea. In simply, New Year means shifting from one calendar year to another. Sri Lankans celebrate this transition as “Sinhala and Tamil New Year”. In astrology, the beginning of a new year is defined with respect to the motion of the sun along the zodiac cycle. There are 12 signs in the zodiac cycle and sun takes 12 months to complete the cycle. It is believed that in April 14, every year sun completes to the final zodiac sign ‘Pisces’ and restart the cycle from the beginning from ‘Aries’. The transition of the sun from “Pisces” to “Aries” is known as “Sinhala and Tamil New Year”.

In spiritual sense, new year leads us to a fresh start of our lives. Actually, new year is not just celebrating traditional customs. It’s a good opportunity to learn our mistakes from the previous year and to readjust our lives for the upcoming year. Not only physical actions, but also our attitudes and the mindset as well. Imagine that you were a pessimistic and a lazy person previous year, you can use this new year to spark a new version of you. Even new year is the perfect time to put all our new hopes and dreams into the action.

Today, do people really make use of the new year to initiate a new beginning of their lives? But the truth is, most people don’t. Still the majority of our people are limited only to the traditional frame of new year. For an example, in “Sinhala and Tamil New Year” there is an auspicious time to perform customs. All the people do those customs on the exact time that day. But in our day-to-day life how many of them work on time? It is obvious that most people are just celebration New Year as a tradition limited to New Year customs and new year games… But, there is much more deep aspects of life inside those customs that people don’t comprehend.

To sum up, I believe that it’s high time that we change this as the new generation of the country. Therefore, instead of a celebrating traditional new year let’s spark for a new hope in this New Year.

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Sinhala and Tamil new year has been the backbone of Sri Lankan culture for a long time. As an island with many cultural and religious multiplicities, Sinhala and Tamil new year is celebrated by all ethnic groups in the country without any variance in race or religion.

Sinhala and Tamil new year is celebrated in the month of April every year. The month of prosperity and fertility. As a country, that depends on agriculture, the month of April is known as the time of harvesting, the time of new hope. The concept of Sinhala and Tamil new year carries the fundamental human quality of “gratitude”. It signifies the value of showing gratitude to nature for giving a good harvest, for giving dawn of a sustainable tomorrow.

Even though this traditional celebration is classified as the “Sinhala and Tamil” new year, it does not bound to those two nations. The true purpose behind the concept of the new year is acknowledging prosperity. After marking the end of the harvesting season, it is the time that every home in the country is piled up with food and laughter. It is not only for the ones who harvested but also for the ones who are willing to share the joy and happiness.

Traditional Sinhala and Tamil new year entails conventional concepts of ‘nakshatra’, the beliefs of ‘stars changing human lives.’ Even though it is surreal in tone, it still has the shades of unity, the feeling of being a part of something bigger than ourselves. Love and laughter shared with each other without dividing lines of race or cast. Religion or beliefs.

It is unquestionable that a new year always opens doors for new hope, for a new beginning. but it is people who make those changes. It is us who view the future through that opened door. A new year may seem either traditional or modern, either we can cover it with the veil of tradition as it’s been so far, or we can kick off that so-called ‘tradition’ and embrace the mist of modernity. At the end of the day, it would not matter whether we used the traditional wooden cooker or was it the modern gas cooker that boiled milk. What does matter is did we see those sparks of new change and new hope through the burning flame and are we willing to embrace it.

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A wise man once said, “Change alone does not change”. Every aspect of our universe changes from time to time, No one is an exception to that change. It is an inexplicable aspect that can be experienced in various ways. Adjustments, adaptations, revolution, and hopes are the words we use when we experience the change. As a human when we endeavor relentlessly for a year, we need a break and change from everything, so we welcome the New year to stimulate hope and fresh perspective into our minds.

Every culture and country has its new year to reset and start its journey again fresh. In Sri Lanka, the new year is a prominent festival that brings prosperity, joy, and harmony to our country. The month of April is usually regarded as a month that brings rejoice and contentment overflow. Sri Lankans celebrate the new year on the 13th and 14th of April. On those two days, the atmosphere around our country become mesmerizing. We unite as a nation to reignite and showcase our traditional values while welcoming the change which we are hoping for in the upcoming year. The history of the New year starts from ancient times, it is the epitome of our venerable ancestor’s beliefs, rituals, and ceremonies. But as the clock starts to turn the dimension of the new year started to change. In human life extracting positive things while omitting negativity is a predominant feature. The younger generation started to infuse their ideas and hope into it while sustaining the moral value of our ancestors.

Our ancestors believed in cognition. They crafted this festival with their experience and hope to honor the esteemed relationship between nature and living beings. The Sun which is a noble aspect of nature is worshipped on this day for its help in the harvest. As we know a country’s self-sustainability and prosperity depend on harvest, so this festival always makes us remember the true value of nature around us. This festival also reflects the perpetual value of unity and interaction. People invite and visit neighbors’ houses and play games to empower the social bond between them. In the contemporary world, people lack a lot of social interaction and engagement between them. This festival indirectly demonstrates the importance of people sticking together not just in the best moment but also in a crisis. It also teaches us to exchange a smile, worship the god, and respect our venerable elders. Starting work and exchanging money and blessing from the elder on this day symbolizes a new fresh start in our life. There is also a practice where we apply holy water called “maruthu neer” on our heads to bless health and healing. The new year reflects novelty, So We welcome novelty with sweets which help to extract the sweetest part of our life from our upcoming journey. These traditional habits always ensure our moral existence.

Now we are living in a rapidly changing world and Our existence requires persistence. Hopeless and pathetic situations are the common features in our day-to-day life. As we know hope cannot be bought for a price, it is an inexplicable emotion that can be only savored. The new year helps us to remind and bring hope to our restless life. It also helps to bring back our traditional habits which are under scrutiny. As a family and society, the auspicious time we spent on that day helped us to uncover true hopes as individuals and a nation. The Tamil and Sinhala new year festivals radiate a ray of hope which helps us to go beyond our confusion and insecurities to push beyond ourselves. As I conclude new year has always been an eternal bond between traditional values and new hopes.

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Whenever we hear the sweet call of the cuckoo , we realize that April is here! Along withthat, a sense of happiness blooms within, which is undoubtedly due to the much anticipatedAvurudu or the traditional Sinhala and Tamil new year. So why exactly do we get excited?

According to astrology, Aluth Avurudu begins when the sun moves from the house of Piscesto the house of Aries. This also coincides with the first day of the traditional Tamil calendaron which the Tamil new year is observed. This special day is celebrated with lots of foods,prayers, games, gatherings and all sorts of things that bring about happiness.

Avurudu is celebrated with not just any food; there will be feasts of mouth-wateringdelicacies specially made for the new year celebrations namely kokis, kavum, kiribath, aasmiand many other sweets and savouries. As if these are not enough to make your heart sing ,there are enthralling ‘Avurudu-special’ games , activities and competitions.

Rhythm and music have always been a part of Asian lifestyle. Playing the Rabana is anactivity where women gather around a big flat drum and play it with their hands whilesinging. Another famous activity is riding rope swings that are tied to trees. Women andchildren enjoy themselves by singing special ‘ onchili waram’ songs while swinging. Apart from these there are many other interesting games like breaking pots blindfolded also knownas Kana Mutti, climbing a greasy pole , pillow fights , Tug-o-war and many more. Another event which is very much looked forward by young people is the Avurudu pageant where aset of judges select the Avurudu princess and prince according to the little talents theyportray and how they carry themselves at their best.

Meeting loved ones always makes one’s heart happy. On this auspicious day people go onvisits to see their friends and family members to strengthen their relationship with them.During these visits they share food , create beautiful memories and play games and so on.Isn’t this too much for the first day of the year? Not at all!

Why not welcome the new year with a fabulous celebration? The fact that we look for aspark of hope and happiness in the upcoming year is the optimistic reason for throwing suchfestivities. The hope that the happiness and laughter with which we start the year willcontinue throughout, and the friends and family we rejoice together to adhere even strongerand make our lives much more merrier.

Wishing you all a very happy and prosperous new year and hoping it to be as amazing asyou are!