Many countries in the world celebrate the new year in 1st of January. Yet there are several calendars around the world that celebrates different days to welcome New Year. In Sri Lanka, new year celebrations start on 13th of April and end in 14th of the month. Sinhala and Tamil New Year. The biggest celebration in Sri Lanka that features a load of rituals and customs is one of the must things to experience in your holiday on the island. Based on the sun’s movement from the Meena Rashiya (House of Pieces) to the Mesha Rashiya (House of Aries) Sri Lankan welcomes the new year in April with a lot of firecrackers, fireworks and gourmet of traditional sweets…
Also known as the sun festival, the Sinhala and Tamil new year is a ritual performed to honour the God of Sun for hundreds and hundreds of years now.
Comes with such a long history the festival is the best season to experience Sri Lanka’s core traditions and rituals and to enjoy fun activities and traditional games at the same time that you cannot experience anywhere else.
Sinhala and Tamil New Year Rituals The unique rituals and the traditions are what make Sinhala and Tamil new year special and memorable. Neutral period (Nonagathe) The new year rituals start in 13th with a ritual called neutral period or Nonagathe. During this time people keep off from all the work and do nothing but engage in religious activities to get the blessing of their religion to prepare for the new year.
