Sinhalese & Tamil New Year Celebrations in Sydney

Transcript:

Many countries in the world including Sri Lanka celebrate the first of January as a day of celebration. In 45BC, New Year’s Day was celebrated on January 1^st for the first time in history as the Julian calendar took effect.

According to tradition, during his reign 715-673 BCE Numa revised the Roman republican calendar so that January replaced March as the first month.

It was a fitting choice, since January was named after Janus, the Roman god of all beginnings, and on the contrary March celebrated Mars, the god of war.

Sinhalese and Tamil’s celebrated the New year based on the Sun’s movement from the Meena Rashiya (House of Pisces) to the Mesha Rashiya (House of Aries).

Today, the sun’s entry into Aries is known as mesa Sankranti in Sanskrit.

So, the traditional New Year in many South and Southeast Asian cultures is based on the sun’s entry into the constellation Aries and is around 14^th of April.

It is also the end of the harvest season, or the beginning of Spring, and we celebrate the harvest festival in the month of Bak when the sun moves, with the intention of achieving social and family reunion, wellbeing and protect our indigenous customs and traditions.

It is celebrated with happiness, rejoicement, and glamour, expecting a better forthcoming year.

This happens to fall on the 14^{th of} April of every year and the previous day is considered as the old year. It is a time of happiness.

It is declared as a public holiday in Sri Lanka and many other Asian countries, so that people can follow the traditional customs to celebrate the new year.

At the time of the dawn of the new year the auspicious moment is celebrated with a lot of firecrackers, fireworks, beating the drums to rhythm by women, and gourmet of traditional sweets.

The uniqueness of this occasion is the celebration of both beginning as well as the ending of the old year at the auspicious times stated by astrologers.

Here, I am at the traditional Sinhala & Tamil new year celebration, at the Roselea function centre in Carlingford, Sydney, on the 11^th Sunday of April, in the year 2021.

Let us join the crowd and share this great traditional festivity.