Colombo DPA – Sri Lankans are set to celebrate their traditional New Year free of the threat of terrorism for the first time in 26 years, after the army defeated Tamil rebels in May.Sikhs, Sinhalese, Tamils, and people of South Asian descent across the world celebrated their new year Tuesday. The celebration is known to Sikhs as Vaisakhi, Puthandu to Tamils and Aluth Avurudu to Sinhalese throughout the world.
Traditional sports festivals and other celebrations are among the events planned for April 14, as locals take time off and travel all over the country, including to the northern regions held by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) until their defeat last year.
The traditional New Year is celebrated by both the majority Sinhalese Buddhists and the minority Tamil Hindus, who account for around 73 per cent and 13 per cent, respectively, of the country's 20-million population.
Sri Lankans are enjoying their new freedom to move around the country, as previously strict security regulations were relaxed. "We are having close to 10,000 visitors to the (northern) Jaffna peninsula from the south of the country," said G Kuganathan, news editor of the Tamil daily Uthayan.
"The majority are Sinhalese who were unable to come here during the war," he added.
During the past 20 years the main road between the south and the Northern Province capital Jaffna was closed, except during a Norwegian-backed truce from 2002 to 2006. Even then, few holiday-makers travelled to the north.
But this year, both civilians who were caught up in the conflict and soldiers are enjoying the most peaceful New-Year season for nearly three decades.
"We have given leave to soldiers - except for the minimum required number - enabling them to visit their parents in their villages," military spokesman Major General Prasad Samarasinghe said.
In the areas worst hit by the fighting last year, soldiers are organizing celebrations for the predominantly Tamil villages, he said.
"We are relaxed and have no tension this year as in other years. Even I can take time to visit my parents," Samarasinghe added.
However, an estimated 75,000 Tamil civilians displaced by the war still remain in camps unable to return home, largely due to the unfinished clearing of landmines, the government claims.
New Year celebrations have also been organized for the displaced persons' camps in the north.
As the checkpoints that used to dot the country's roads are disappearing, Sri Lankans are also travelling to other holiday destinations.
"This year we have seen more people in the market places," Wasantha Chandrapala, a journalist based in the eastern town of Ampara, said. "One reason is that there aren't any security problems and the people can move freely."
Ampara was one of the towns seriously affected by the violence, including several fatal bombs during the war.
Nearly three decades of war cost Sri Lanka the lives of over 100,000 civilians and around 23,000 soldiers. An estimated 7,000 soldiers were maimed and more than 300,000 civilians displaced in the final phase of the conflict.
The ruling United People's Freedom Alliance led by President Mahinda Rajapaksa won a landslide victory with over 60 per cent of the vote in last Thursday's parliamentary elections, largely due to Rajapaksa's popularity for ending the war.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton also chipped in with her own new year message. In the message released by the US State Department, Clinton said that every year the celebration brings the hope of new beginnings and fresh promise, but this year it carries added resonance.
“For the first time in decades, Sri Lankans from all parts of the island can celebrate together in a peaceful and united country. This is an opportunity for Sri Lankans of all backgrounds, living inside and outside the country, to renew their bonds and work together to build a prosperous, democratic nation defined by tolerance and respect for human rights,” she said.
Uthayakumari, "There’ll be no New Year until I find my daughter"
KILINOCHCHI, 15 April 2010 (IRIN) - Uthayakumari, 39, lost her husband and a son in fighting between Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and government forces in 2009, and is still searching for her daughter who went missing earlier the same year.
The girl was aged 16 when she was forcibly recruited by the Tigers in 2007. Uthayakumari and her family made an ill-fated decision to stay in LTTE-controlled areas to remain in contact with her.
“People in the country are celebrating the New Year this week. For me, every hour that goes by is an hour of suffering and weeping for the death of my loved ones, and trying to locate my lost daughter.
“They [Tamil Tigers] were on a child-abducting spree - they wanted to expand their ranks. My daughter never wanted to join the LTTE. They abducted her in December 2007 from Kilinochchi town and kept her in their camps on the war front. She was a beautiful child who never liked violence, but the LTTE took her away.
“We were helpless. In those days, the LTTE controlled all these areas [in Kilinochchi], so we couldn’t do anything about the abductions.
"We didn’t want to leave the war zone because our daughter was held by the LTTE. I didn’t feel it was right for our family to run away, leaving her. As the war and LTTE moved from Kilinochchi to Mullaitivu areas, we also moved with the LTTE.
"Later on, in April 2009, we decided we had to leave as the war became unbearable. A lot of shelling was going on.
“While we were fleeing Mullaitivu to government-controlled areas, a shell fell between my husband and my son. They both died on the spot; I saw my husband's body being torn into pieces. I was very near to them. My spirit died that day, and I’m now living like a dead person.
“Soon after the last New Year, I lost the people I loved the most. How can I celebrate another New Year? Nothing feels new or fresh to me.
“I have contacted the authorities to find my daughter. I cannot locate her at all. Please help me to find my daughter. Many LTTE-abducted children were rehabilitated and released by the government, but my child was not on any of those lists .
“For me, there will no New Year until I find my daughter. But I just don’t know where to look for her.”
New urban rituals in the traditional Sri Lankan new year
Like much of South India, Sri Lankans also sport colourful unique traditions associated with the annual celebrations of the new year. However the traditions and rituals associated with the festival are different from those practiced in South India and are heavily dependent on auspicious and inauspicious times which are published in all major national newspapers before the date. These include the observance of a nonagatha period (a few hours between the ending of the old year and the start of the new year where you are not supposed to do anything), ganu denu (literally translating to ‘transactions’ – good time to collect lots of money), the traditional lighting of a hearth, etc.
These traditions are held sacrosanct, and a failure to observe them properly is considered highly inauspicious. But like many traditional festivals the world over, some urbanization tends to creep in – mostly by way of shortcuts, a sudden need to accommodate time zones and great confusion on as to how a lot of new fangled technological devices (that are nevertheless an integral part of daily life) fit in. Following is a hilarious yet very true list of urban new year rituals in Sri Lanka.
01. The Kokis Run
(Kokis is a traditional food that is a must have on the table)
Performed approximately 2 days before the new year this ritual involves a trip to the local supermarket to buy kokis, kavum and other avurudhu (new year) foods because the stuff in the shop is better than anything you, your spouse or your maid could ever manage in the kitchen.
02. The Alco Rush
Performed at about 8.30 p.m. in the evening before the wine stores close, this ritual involves individuals standing in long queues to buy unnecessarily large quantities of alcohol because uncle Bebastian (Beba – drunkard) just might drop by.
03. The I-Wish-I-Could-Drop-By Storytelling Session
This ritual involves you making up various excuses not to visit hated relatives and colleagues who feel they are owed a visit by you and/or your family during the avurudhu season.
04. The Can-I-Drop-By Storytelling Session
For individuals who are tired of spending New Year’s day with their family, this ritual allows them to explore the option of spending the day with other -more interesting- individuals (most often those who have completed the Alco Rush ritual).
05. The Perpetual Chain-Sarong
Performed during the ganu-denu (gift giving) time this ritual involves finding a sarong someone gave you last avurudhu and giving it to an individual who will do exactly the same thing with it. It’s just sooo avurudhu to give sarongs.
06. The Time Shift Conversation
Conducted with relatives living abroad. If the auspicious time for boiling milk in Sri Lanka is 7.45 a.m. should your cousin in Little Rock, Arkansas fire it up at 9.15 p.m. on the 13th or at 7.45 a.m. on the 14th? Is he allowed to light a fire in his dorm room anyway?
07. The Microwave Rationalization
This ritual involves an individual attempting to explain to an elderly individual -generally the grandmother- why using the microwave to cook stuff when you’re not supposed to light the fire is perfectly alright. Will result in this incident being referred to when anything goes wrong for anyone in the house for the next 365 days.
A Happy Sinhala and Tamil New Year everyone!
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