Sinhala and Tamil New Year celebration (අලුත් අවුරුද්ද) was held on on Sunday 16 April 2023 at St Patrick’s College Hall, Silverstream.
Mr. Greg O’Connor the Deputy Speaker and the MP for Ohario, was the Chief Guest at this celebration.
This year’s event was a huge success, with an attendance of over 400 people from our community.
Many community members wore the customary ‘Avurudu’ attire, women the ‘redda hetta’ (cloth and jacket) and men the shirt and sarong. Rituals for prosperity and good luck such as lighting of the oil lamp and boiling of milk in a pot until it overflows were performed. The ‘Avurudu’ table was filled with Kribath (milk rice), sweetmeat, and other special dishes were enjoyed by all who attended.
There was a drama performance on traditions of the Sri Lankan New Year.
The highlight of the celebration was the traditional games for both children and adults. New Year Prince and Princess (අවුරුදු කුමාරයා/කුමාරි ) contest was another event enjoyed by everyone.
Some of the other traditional games played were ‘Place the eye on the elephant’ (Aliyata asa thabeema), ‘Tug-o-War’ (Kamba Adeema), ‘Eating buns’ (Banis kema), ‘Pillow-fight’ (Kotta Pora), and ‘Feeding curd’ (Kirikawima).
It was a successful celebration that gave a glimpse into Sinhala and Hindu traditions, rituals, ethnic performances, and authentic Sri Lankan delicacies.
You cannot speak about the New Year without talking about food!!!
The day before (15 April 2023) the celebration, USLA held a sweetmeat workshop at the Indian Cultural Hall. This workshop was held to prepare traditional sweetmeats for the New Year celebration which was held the following day. This was a great opportunity for skilled experts in our community to share their knowledge of preparing traditional sweetmeat and for those with a keen interest to learn and try out their hand in making those traditional food. More than 50 volunteers participated in it.
