# data[].attributes.body
The Sri Lankan Tamil cuisine is mixed with flavorful, spiciness and most of the time coconut is added to most of our dishes. Our Tamil cuisine staple foods are rice, pittu( rice flour steamed with coconut), curry, idiyappam(basically flour base string hoopers) and dosai. One of my favourite Tamil seafood dishes is kool which is a thick soup with crabs, fish, shrimp, jackfruit seeds, vegetables, etc. It is very spicy according to how much you put. It is also very delicious and great for digestion and during the winter. My family enjoy this delicacy and we drink this almost every week. We also have various snacks like samosas, vadai, and roti which are pretty common in South Asia. It has similar dishes to South Indian Tamil cuisine but Sri Lankan Tamil cuisine has more of a unique taste to it.

# data[].attributes.headline
Celebrations - Thai Pongal and Navaratri

# data[].attributes.subject
Celebrations - Thai Pongal and Navaratri

# data[].attributes.body
Sri Lankan Tamils have several festivals to celebrate mainly when it comes to Hindu celebrations and according to their customs. One that mainly everyone celebrates is Thai Pongal which is a harvest festival and we thank the sun god for the food and make sweet rice(Pongal) as a way to say thank you. I celebrate this with my family and friends and go to events that the Tamil community holds up for everyone. Another one I celebrate is Navaratri, according to the Hindu customs where there 9 nights of worshipping, music and dancing to honour our goddesses Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswathi. We also pray that we do well in our studies. There are other traditions like Shivaratri, and Diwali other families celebrate with their family.

# data[].attributes.body
Sri Lankan Tamil music and dance are deep with religious roots and my parents would bring me to music classes which was a Carnatic Tamil classic that I would sing and it would be played by other instruments like the flute or veena performed or would be an exam to test your knowledge. Another one is koothu music which is a street-style dance with amazing beats and hip-hop styles that have greatly impacted Kollywood movies. Lastly, one I loved doing as a kid was Bharatanatyam which is a classical dance that expresses greatly on the words of a storytelling with movements that greatly impacted on performance in temples to express the gratitude towards the gods. My parents made me do this not only to help me learn about my culture but be a part of something that I can express myself.

# data[].attributes.body
Sri Lankan Tamil clothing is what made me feel comfortable about my culture and what started me to embrace it by wearing it in public and getting lots of compliments. It reflects our religious beliefs and plays a key role in ceremonies like weddings, saree ceremonies etc. Women, usually wear a saree(mature age), half saree(before puberty), and paavadai(kids) these are all draped and used on special occasions, for example, silk is for big ceremonies and cotton is everyday wear or small party. For men, it is a vetti which is like a white or off-white skirt worn in temples or religious festivals or a kurta usually for for weddings, parties etc. While we wear this we also wear cultural symbols that signify who we are. One example is a pottu(bindi) a red dot for married women in most cases. Other colours can be used for unmarried women. Especially a thali(a religious necklace) which shows to others that this woman is married. Finally, for temples, they put an ash powder on the forehead which we call vibhuti which is applied in temples. This shows that you're devoted to Hinduism. Many others symbolize who we are but these are the common ones that everyone does.

# data[].attributes.body
Tamil is a beautiful language spoken by Sri Lankan Tamil and south Indian Tamil which has been used thousands of years ago. It is the official language of Sri Lanka. Even though Tamil in Sri Lanka has some unique differences from Indian Tamil when it comes to pronunciation and wording. Most kids these day goes to Tamil classes to learn how to speak, read and write and over the years I have mastered all 3 of them. My parents wanted me to show me how important it is to speak your mother tongue as it is the oldest language and to make sure that it is passed on to the next generation. The Tamil literature behind it also reflects its history and the struggles we have faced. This includes religious texts, poetry and historical events. One main literature I learned in my Tamil class is Thirukkural which is the most famous work of poetry and written work. I learned many poems related to love, wealth, and morals that identify us as Tamil people.