All my life I’ve never really had the chance to indulge in my culture. Ofcourse we were raised in a very cultural home, where my parents put in their utmost efforts into cultivating a lively Buddhist culture in our household. We were always a little bent towards the “modernist” cultural side. We are Buddhist, Sinhalese but nothing was very strictly enforced on us (which is a good thing ofcourse) and because of the multi-cultural society we grew up in, it was hard to indulge in one culture or religion whole-heartedly. It was always a mix of this and that and a blend of it all. My feelings towards this mixed knowledge on different cultures is somewhat capricious. I absolutely adore the fact that I can blend in so easily into any traditional festivities. I would not be standing there aimlessly. I would actually have a some idea about what is going on and how I would be expected to behave or perform.
For instance, half a decade in England has brought me a copious amount of Nepalese friends. I have befriended individuals and whole families, been a part of their community and functions like one of their own. I never felt apart. Never felt like the black sheep. I laughed at their jokes, enjoyed their company, food and folklores, cheered their performances and indulged in all their annual festivities to such an extent that now I actually miss occasions such as Dashain, Teej, Bhai Tikka and the various other hindu functions that I used to readily be available to attend. I have also spent all my life in an Arabic country amidst muslim friends and families and again I know exactly what goes on when Eid-ul-Fitr, Hajj season, Eid-ul-Adha, Ramadan, Laylat-ul-Qadar and other Islamic festivals or functions take place. I know what time are the prayers, what are their names and what the respective people of that religion expected to do. Then there are the Christian/western traditions where you get the good old Lent season, the Good Fridays and the Easter Sundays, Christmas and Irish holidays of St. Patricks’ Day, thanksgiving and hallooween and the list goes on. So having covered three main religions that cover three quarters of the world traditions and cultures combined, I come to my native one. Buddhism Sinhalese traditions.
As far as I am aware, we don’t have many traditional festivities. Sinhalese people celebrate every full moon’s day also known as “Poya Day” where people abstain from eating non-vegetarian foods and pray the whole day, dressed in white clothing and the only other occasion is the Sinhalese New year where the country springs to life (and so I’ve heard). People shop for days on end and refurbish their houses, spring clean and prepare delicacies for the occasion. New clothes are worn, bought, stitched for the occasion and there are lots and lots of traditional, cultural games on this day… which usually ends in a beauty pageant, where pageant is divided into three age groups and between male and female. Basically there is a kid’s one below 10’s and one for the below 18’s and the other one for the adults. Contestants will be dress in traditional outfits and walk before a panel of judges who will announce three winners for each category- 1st, 2nd and 3rd positions and usually they get valuable gifts!
The Sinhalese Calendar coincides with many other South and Southeastern Asian countries, for this reason we share our new year day with the Nepalese, tamil, Oriya new year festivals too. Traditional celebration of Sinhalese new year dates back to the ancient Sri Lankan history forecasting cultural anthropology. Most of these beliefs are associated with harvest and fertility season which has given birth to many traditions and customary rituals, especially after the advent of Buddhism in the 3rd century, the new year festivities were seen in Buddhist light. According to Sinhalese mythology, New year starts when the sun moved from the Meena Rashiya (house of Aries) to the Mesha Rashiya. It also marks the end of the harvest festival. In Old Sinhalese Buddhist Calendar there is a tri-semester of celebrations that kicks of in the “Bak” month or according to the Gregorian calendar, the month of April.
The celebrations are spread over two days. 13th commemorating the end of the Old year and 14th, celebrating the advent of the New year. After the cleaning and setting up, the day is said to begin with the lighting of oil lamps. This day has a lot of time constrained activities. A period called Nonagathe is observed where people don’t do anything or eat anything. After this period is over, they start the day by lighting a handmade stove and boiling coconut milk in a clay pot and letting it overflow to mark direction of wealth and prosperity. Then there is a time for oiling the hair, eating food, stepping outside the house, a time to take blessings of the elderly or making the first business/money included transaction etcetera. Traditional food Kiribath (milk rice), Kavum (oil cake), Kokis (crisp sweetmeat) and other savoury, sweet dishes) that is made on every auspicious occasion. There are many traditional games that people gather and take part in as a community or a village. Each community in Sri Lanka and even countries that have large Sri Lankan communities organise these games like Raban (elderly women congregate to play traditional beats on a flat based drum), Swinging on banyan tree swings, cultural songs and a countless number of games that incur large winnings. They also have stage skits and dances during the evenings as performed during the kings era brought down by Kandy and mostly influenced Kandyan Kindgom cultures. Sinhala Aluth Avurudu is an ubiquitous occasion amidst sinhalese people all over the world.
I have never really been a part of any of these celebrations. In Dubai, when I was younger, we attended the annual festivities and games held here, but the older I grew, the celebrations seemed bland and monotonous. I barely knew a 1/4 of the people participating, the games became too childish (in my opinion) and the summer heat was too much to bear. It was just a group of Sri lankans thrown into the Cricket Stadium field with a cocky sounding announcer blabbering gibberish over the microphone. I also won one of those beauty pageants when I was like nine. But I do hope that someday I do get to see the real celebrations. I may or may not enjoy the outright street behaviour, the openness and the celebratory spirit, but I’d sure love to see it someday myself. Today, blogging about the new year, I’ve acquainted myself with so many things that I hadn’t known before and hearing my parents speak of their childhood so highly just makes me wonder, what will I tell my kids someday? We’ve not lost moments or days being nomadic in bedouin land, we’ve lost years of culture being the child who was raised abroad. My sister still complains that my parents don’t have enough answers to all her questions and mock them sometimes, I wonder what will my children tell us. Both me and A have no idea why half the things are the way they are in both Sri lankan tradition or Nepalese/Indian/Sikkimese culture. He was unaware what Brathabandha was all about (thank god he remembered that he’s gotten that done). In the next few years, say 7-8 years, we’ll see a very interesting family. My future family would sure be interesting. Two people from mixed backgrounds and their story. Definitely worth a book I’d say!
Happy Sinhalese New year to all Sri Lankans out there! And Happy Nepalese New year 2069 🙂
– Tash.x
One more adventure...please? 