Sri Lankan New Year Festival
May 10, 2019
The Green Lion
Sinhala and Hindu New Year is a festival full of customs and rituals and also one of the major celebrations and a must see in Sri Lanka. The traditions engraved to the festival make it a wonderful opportunity to witness Sri Lankan culture.
When Sri Lankans were eagerly preparing for the dawn of the Sinhala and Tamil New Year, The Green Lion participants celebrated the New Year festival with the preschool kids. As the kids got dressed up in traditional costumes, the participants of Green Lion joined them and wore traditional Sri Lankan costumes in vibrant colors.
On the day of the festival, as the participants and The Green Lion Sri Lanka team reached the playground where the festival was held, the staff of the preschool warmly welcomed everyone and lit the traditional oil lamp according to the Sri Lankan custom to illuminate the premises and to mark the beginning of the event with the hope of bringing prosperity at the dawn of the new year.
Then the beat of βrabanaβ (a folk drum) played by four old women, echoed the rhythm of the lyrical versus that is intertwined with the new year festival, allowing the Green Lion participants to get a glimpse of Sri Lankan folklore. The pre school kids then danced to the folk music adding much color and flavour to the festival.
With lime and spoon race, began a number of new year games in which kids and The Green Lion Participants took part. While gunny bag race and catching water balloons filled their hearts with excitement and glee. For the common new year games such as tug of war, they joined with much gusto. The preschool kids were so enthusiastic in taking part in spotting the eye of the elephant and eating buns. When each and everyone one was overwhelmed with joy, winners walked away with a triumphant smile and not to mention the gifts and souvenirs.
Everyone was then served with authentic Sri Lankan sweetmeats where the Green Lion participants were able to savour the taste of typical Sri Lankan celebrations. The table was filled with βmilk riceβ , βsweet oil cakeβ and number of traditional delicacies made of rice flour and coconut palm sap. The array of these traditional dishes was one of the main features of the new year festival that everyone was looking forward to.
Sinhala and Tamil New Year festival in Sri Lanka was a wonderful opportunity for the Green Lion participants to experience warmth, hospitality and joy that is inherent in Sri Lankan culture. And they sure had fun!
