The Hindu and Sinhala NewYear

The Koel will remind you of the new year with her cries

New Year's day in Sri Lanka falls on the 13th of April. This is the most important date in Sri Lanka's cultural calendar.

The New Year will dawn at an Auspicious time determined by the movement of the sun and the stars in the heavens. If it happens at mid night it's pure coincidence. This year, the event is at 09.38 in the evening.

Though this year we are celebrating the new year on the 13^th, in other years it may be on the 14^th; it's all decided by the stars.

Traditionally the new year has been a harvest festival, with Kiri-Bath (Milk Rice) being prepared with the rice from the new crop. A grand feast is laid out. Cooking and Eating the new year meal and almost everything else has to be done at the auspicious time.

During the days just before and after the new year, Colombo grinds to a halt. Many of the residents of city dwellers have their roots in the villages and take time off to see their friends and relatives.

It is in the villages that the new year is celebrated with a passion, with festivities lasting for many days after the 14^th has come and gone.

The city of Nuwara Eliya takes on a Carnival atmosphere in April. This is where people without roots in the villages spend the new years day. Sleepy Nuwara Eliya's pace picks up with horse races and motor races leading the way. And coincidently april is the month when the flowers are in full bloom in Nuwara Eliya.