Another New Year in mid-April? Yes, an ancient South Asian tradition

By Shelton Gunaratne

(April 12, Red River Valley , USA, Sri Lanka Guardian) For many Americans, the New Year begins on Jan. 1 of the Gregorian calendar, which the West and its colonial dependencies adopted in 1582.

But for a minority of Americans and to some millions people in South Asia, another New Year begins in mid-April. This spring marks the year 5111in terms of Kali yuga (of the four epochs mentioned in Vedic cosmology) or the year 1931 based on the Saka era (used by the Hindu calendar).

Minnesota and North Dakota residents will witness some of the festivities when more than 100 Sri Lankan students currently enrolled at NDSU, MSUM and Concordia and their families join the Sri Lankan diaspora in the Upper Midwest to celebrate the onset of their traditional New Year in April, their month of Bak (Sinhala) or Pankuni (Tamil) that marks the end of the paddy harvest season.

For the people of Sri Lanka and the state of Tamilnadu in India, the New Year (called Aluth Avurudda in Sinhala and Puthandu in Tamil) marks the movement of the sun astrologically from the constellation of Pisces to that of Aries. Normally, this happens on April 13 or 14, when the sun is directly above the sun devale in Koggala, a town close to Galle in southern Sri Lanka.

The Puthandu follows the Nirayanam vernal equinox and generally falls on April 14 of the Gregorian calendar.

In some ways, the New Year resembles the Thanksgiving in the United States. Both provide the occasion for family members and friends to get together and enjoy a hearty meal. But whereas turkey highlights the Thanksgiving meal, rice and curry, supplemented by an array of sweetmeats, highlight the New Year meal. The Sinhala New Year celebrations in Sri Lanka are incomplete without the following sweetmeats:

• Kavun : Varieties of small and round oil cakes; konda kavun contain a knot on top. Recipe and method available at ( External Link)
• Kokis : A flower-shaped thinner and crispier version of Dutch-originated cookies. Recipe and method available at (External Link)
• Aggala: A fire ball of rice flour mixed with ground black pepper held together with coconut treacle. Recipe and method at (External Link)
• Aluwa: A diamond-shaped sweet made of cashew nuts, sugar, butter, and milk mixed with rose essence. Recipe and method at (External Link)
• Athiraha: An uneven ball-shaped fried pastry made of rice flour, treacle and related ingredients. Recipe and method at (External Link)
• Bibikkan: Something very much like a rich cake with coconut. Recipe and method at (External Link)

The New Year food feast must also necessarily include diamond-shaped kiribath (or sticky rice—a compound of country rice and coconut milk) and lunumiris (a concoction of shallots, ground chili powder, Maldive fish flakes, lime and salt).

In 2009, the New Year the Sri Lankans celebrate begins at 2.17 p.m. on April 13 for those living in the Central (DST) Time Zone, according to the astrological calculations of Sri Lanka Jyotisha at (External Link)
The auspicious time for preparing the New Year’s auspicious food of kiribath is 6.35 p.m. Central time, keeping in mind the year’s auspicious direction (north) and the year’s auspicious color for clothing (cream or white), according to the same source.

Again for those in the Central Time Zone, the auspicious time for starting work, transacting business and eating the first meal is 7.16 p.m.

In Sri Lanka, the end of the old year and the beginning of the new are both determined by astrological calculation. The in-between gap in time is called the nonagathe (neutral period), during which people practice spiritual activities and avoid any material pursuits. Because of the time differences in various parts of the globe, the auspicious times related to the diaspora differ from those calculated for Sri Lanka.

Because both the Sinhalese (predominantly Theravada Buddhist) and Tamils (predominantly Hindu) celebrate the New Year as a common heritage, Sri Lanka could use this link to build bridges between these two communities which have been at war for 26 years. With the impending defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, the re-unification of the island requires the reinforcement of all common bonds. For example, Tamil children from the north could join the Sinhalese children from the south to celebrate the New Year.

In fact, the New Year provides the occasion to forget and forgive. Younger members of the family kneel before the older members to ask for forgiveness and blessings. For both children and adults, the New Year’s Day is for play and enjoying the best of traditional foods.

The Sri Lankan community in the upper Red River Valley (Fargo-Moorhead) pre-celebrated the New Year on April 5 at the home of Ari and Theja Wijetunga in north Fargo. Other celebrations are planned by the Sri Lanka students and their families in the F-M area.

The Minnesota Buddhist Vihara in Minneapolis has organized a post New Year celebration (Bak Maha Ulela) from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on April 18 at the City View School Auditorium. Activities include observing traditional New Year customs, taking part in traditional games and activities, and participating in a pot-luck New Year meal.

Witiyala Seewalie Thera, the abbot of the Vihara, said he has invited all Sri Lankans in Fargo-Moorhead to attend the celebrations.

(The writer is professor of mass communications emeritus at Minnesota State University Moorhead.)

-Sri Lanka Guardian