Happy Vesak

Happy Vesak 

 

 

Sri Lanka joins Buddhists all over the world in celebrating Vesak on the 2600th Sri Sambuddha Jayanthi year today. Vesak Day is one of the biggest days of the year in the Buddhist calendar and is celebrated by Buddhists all over the world. The day marks the birth, enlightenment and death of Buddha and is a day of great celebrations. It is traditional to clean the home and decorate it in preparation for the celebrations which begin before dawn and continue throughout the day with religious services, prayer meetings, meditation sessions and processions.

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 Vesak

Our Lanka wishes its readers a happy Vesak

Vesak Day is one of the biggest days of the year in the Buddhist calendar and is celebrated by Buddhists all over the world. The day marks the birth, enlightenment and death of Buddha and is a day of great celebrations. It is traditional to clean the home and decorate it in preparation for the celebrations which begin before dawn and continue throughout the day with religious services, prayer meetings, meditation sessions and processions.

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

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