Rajapaksha Family getting ready for New year 2023

Mahinda Rajapaksa, the former Sri Lankan president and son Namal Rajapaksa, along with his grandchild, is getting ready to celebrate Sinhala New Year, one of the most important cultural festivals in Sri Lanka. The festival, which falls in mid-April, marks the end of the harvest season and the beginning of the new year according to the Sinhala calendar.

As part of the celebrations, Mahinda Rajapaksa and his family are preparing traditional sweets. These delicacies are a significant part of the Sinhala New Year celebrations, and families across Sri Lanka prepare them at home.

Meanwhile, Shiranthi Rajapaksa, the wife of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, is cooking sweets at their residence.

Rajapaksha Family getting ready for New year 2023

First Family Celebrates New Year

President Mahinda Rajapaksa and First Lady Shiranthi Rajapaksa celebrated Sinhala and Tamil New Year in the traditional manner at the Carlton Residence in Tangalle along with their sons Namal, Yoshitha, Rohitha and other relatives. Secretary of Defence Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Minister Johnston Fernando also participated in the celebrations.

First Lady Shiranthi Rajapaksa conducted all the rituals at the auspicious time with the President and other family members assisted her. At the auspicious time for the lighting of the hearth the President, First Lady and many other family members attended the symbolic tradition of boiling milk at the auspicious time.

After observing the traditional New Year customs, the President visited the People’s Bank and Bank of Ceylon branches in Tangalle for traditional money transactions.

 

Happy New Year to All Sri lankans.....

May This New Year Bring You Happiness... Success... good health... and be filled with Peace... Hope... Togetherness of your Family and your Loved ones...

OUR LANKA wish you HAPPY NEW YEAR to all....

Sri Lankans celebrate their National New Year " Sinhala hindu Aluth Avurudu " in mid april after the Harvest is done. The sun is moving from the House of Pisces to the Aries signals the dawning of the Sinhala and Tamil New Year. The New Year begins at the time determined by the astrologers. Not only the beginning of the new year but the conclusion of the old year is also specified by the astrologers. And unlike the customary ending and beginning of new year, there is a period of a few hours in between the conclusion of the Old Year and the commencement of the New Year which is called the "nonagathe" (neutral period). During this time one is expected to keep off from all types of work and engage solely in religious activities.


This also coincides with the time when the harvest ends, so the colorful fruit from the trees is collected in bulk to fuel the week-long celebrations. Festivities are prepared well in advance and most of the country grinds to a halt as hundreds travel home to be with their families and stores close down in their wake - it can be impossible to track down the simplest of things just before it all starts.


The rituals begin with the cleaning of the house and lighting of an oil lamp, and women congregate to bash on the raban (drum) to warn others of the incipient change in the year. If you fail to hear this, a storm of firecrackers is bound to hammer the point home.


Families indulge in a variety of rituals which are carefully determined by astrological calculations - from lighting the fire to making the kiri (milk rice) bath, to entering into the first business transaction and eating the first morsels.


Once these are done, the partying really begins as families mingle in the streets, homes are thrown open and children are let out to play. The ubiquitous plantain is dished out alongside celebratory feasts of kaung (small oil cake) and kokis (crisp and light sweetmeat, originally from the Netherlands).


Aurudu has become an important national holiday for both the cultures of the Sinhalese Buddhists and the Tamil Hindu Sri Lankans, and is unique as such, as it is not celebrated elsewhere in the world. Indeed wealthy Sri Lankans make it an excuse to come home from wherever they are to make it a long holiday season.


sources :
http://www.info.lk
http://www.lankalibrary.com

Happy New Year

Another fresh new year is here . . .

Another year to live!

To banish worry, doubt, and fear,

To love and laugh and give!

This bright new year is given me

To live each day with zest . . .

To daily grow and try to be

My highest and my best!

I have the opportunity

Once more to right some wrongs,

To pray for peace, to plant a tree,

And sing more joyful songs

May the New Year bring you Health and Happiness... 

Happy New Year to All Sri lankans.....

May This New Year Bring You Happiness... Success... good health... and be filled with Peace... Hope... Togetherness of your Family and your Loved ones...

OUR LANKA wish you HAPPY NEW YEAR to all....

Sri Lankans celebrate their National New Year " Sinhala hindu Aluth Avurudu " in mid april after the Harvest is done. The sun is moving from the House of Pisces to the Aries signals the dawning of the Sinhala and Tamil New Year. The New Year begins at the time determined by the astrologers. Not only the beginning of the new year but the conclusion of the old year is also specified by the astrologers. And unlike the customary ending and beginning of new year, there is a period of a few hours in between the conclusion of the Old Year and the commencement of the New Year which is called the "nonagathe" (neutral period). During this time one is expected to keep off from all types of work and engage solely in religious activities.


This also coincides with the time when the harvest ends, so the colorful fruit from the trees is collected in bulk to fuel the week-long celebrations. Festivities are prepared well in advance and most of the country grinds to a halt as hundreds travel home to be with their families and stores close down in their wake - it can be impossible to track down the simplest of things just before it all starts.


The rituals begin with the cleaning of the house and lighting of an oil lamp, and women congregate to bash on the raban (drum) to warn others of the incipient change in the year. If you fail to hear this, a storm of firecrackers is bound to hammer the point home.


Families indulge in a variety of rituals which are carefully determined by astrological calculations - from lighting the fire to making the kiri (milk rice) bath, to entering into the first business transaction and eating the first morsels.


Once these are done, the partying really begins as families mingle in the streets, homes are thrown open and children are let out to play. The ubiquitous plantain is dished out alongside celebratory feasts of kaung (small oil cake) and kokis (crisp and light sweetmeat, originally from the Netherlands).


Aurudu has become an important national holiday for both the cultures of the Sinhalese Buddhists and the Tamil Hindu Sri Lankans, and is unique as such, as it is not celebrated elsewhere in the world. Indeed wealthy Sri Lankans make it an excuse to come home from wherever they are to make it a long holiday season.


sources :
http://www.info.lk
http://www.lankalibrary.com

Wish you all HAPPY NEW YEAR

Another fresh new year is here . . .
Another year to live!
To banish worry, doubt, and fear,
To love and laugh and give!

This bright new year is given me
To live each day with zest . . .
To daily grow and try to be
My highest and my best!

I have the opportunity
Once more to right some wrongs,
To pray for peace, to plant a tree,
And sing more joyful songs