Sinhala Aluth Avurudda: Celebrating A Life-affirming Culture

The Sinhala Aluth Avurudda or the Sinhalese New Year is celebrated in the month of Bak according to the traditional lunar calendar of the Sinhalese people.

- By Rowana R. WASALA

The name ‘Bak’ comes from the Sanskrit word bhagya meaning ‘fortune’. The month of Bak corresponds to April in the Gregorian calendar, which is commonly used in Sri Lanka today as it is in other parts of the world. Although there is usually little conspicuous seasonal change experienced in the course of the year in tropical Sri Lanka except for a relatively hot August and a relatively cool December, the month of Bak is associated with a delightful vernal atmosphere, and an unusual freshness in nature enhanced by spring blossoms and azure skies despite occasional showers. This also used to be the time that the ripened paddy was gathered in, which gave rise to a pervasive sense of plenty, especially to rural Sri Lanka in days gone by.

The Bak festive season centres around a national cultural event which is unique in a number of ways. In deference to the obvious cultural kinship between the majority Buddhist Sinhalese and the majority Hindu Tamils, the British colonial rulers named it the Sinhala Hindu New Year. It is probably the only major traditional festival that is commonly observed by the largest number of Sinhalese and Tamils in the country. Its non-ethnic non-religious (secular) character is another distinctive feature. This festival cannot be described as ethnic because it is celebrated by both the Sinhalese and the Tamils, yet not by all of them either: only the Sinhalese Buddhists and the Hindu Tamils participate in it, the Christians in both communities having nothing to do with it. On the other hand, it is a non-religious celebration in that not all Buddhists nor all Hindus in the world take part in it; only the Sinhalese Buddhists and Tamil Hindus do. (I owe this description of the non-ethnic, non-religious nature of the Aluth Avurudda to Professor J.B.Dissanayake’s explanation of the subject in his booklet The April New Year Festival {Pioneer Lanka Publications. London.1993}).