Mirror Magazine

Mirror Magazine

When kevum, kokis smell divine…
By Vidushi Seneviratne
Auspicious times, fire crackers, the kavum, kokis and the pongal… yes, you guessed right, the Sinhala and Hindu New Year is just around the corner. With the biggest celebration in the Sri Lankan calendar approaching, both young and old are getting prepared to greet the New Year in style.

Though we celebrate January 1 as the dawn of a new year, culturally, Sri Lankans are more familiar with celebrating the Sinhala and Hindu New Year on April 13 and 14, with it being the highlight of the April holidays for most school children because of the time spent in the company of family and relatives.

Beginning with the offerings to various gods, the Sinhala and Hindu New Year is in one way a method of warding off evil spirits and misfortunes brought about by different planetary positions. By performing the many rituals and pujas, mental tranquility is achieved and hope of success is implanted in the mind. This, to most, is a positive beginning of a new year. In preparation of the new year, numerous practices are observed by both communities, but most importantly, everything is done according to the auspicious time, also known as the subha mohotha or subha neram.

According to Hindu customs, “maruthu neer” or clean water boiled with various herbs, selected flowers and leaves, milk, saffron and other ingredients, is applied on the heads of all family members whilst “Punku”’ leaves are placed on the head and fig leaves under the feet and bathe. Then new clothes are recommended according to the colours mentioned in the almanac. The Sinhalese customs are similar, with people having herbal baths for the passing year. Next comes the nonekata time, which is the transitional period in the planetary movement and considered to be inauspicious to start any propitious work. Therefore, this time is set apart for religious observances. Here again, the almanac tells you what colours to wear and which direction to look towards when doing what is prescribed, so that you would not do anything inauspicious or unlucky.

“Usually new year is a really nice time when we go to our grandmother’s house and meet all our aunts, uncles and cousins. We get a chance to get involved in all the traditional things and it makes you connect with your family,” says Ashani (21). “Of course the part where we have to go around distributing food to the neighbors isn’t exactly fun!”

For 19-year-old Abhirami, new year involves a process that she enjoys very much. “We wake up quite early, have a bath and get dressed in the colours that we have been asked to wear. Next we prepare the pongal, go to the kovil and later visit relatives. One of the main rituals is the kai vishesham, which is an exchange of money at an auspicious time. Usually the father in each family gives money to his wife and children and this is a symbol that all will be well financially.”

“This ceremony enhances our cultural roots and the best part about it is that you don’t have to be Sinhala Buddhist or Tamil Hindu to celebrate it. I come from a culturally mixed background with my father being a Colombo Chetty Catholic and my mother being a Sinhala Buddhist, so we thoroughly enjoy the fact that my mother goes out of her way to make all the kavum and kokis for the new year!” says Natalie (22).

Commenting on whether this celebration should be another reason for the two communities to get along, she agrees, adding that the very fact that both communities celebrate their new years on the same day, is indeed a point to ponder on.

For 18-year-old Rathnakala too, April 13 and 14 are very significant days. “We usually wake up early morning and bathe with the Muruthu neer which we have got from the temple the previous day,” she says. Going onto talk about customs of the new year, she explained what the Nirkudam was, describing it as another classic symbol of the Hindu new year. “You keep plantain leaves on a stool, sprinkle it with rice grains, keep an ever-silver pot filled with water and place a coconut on it. Then you surround it with mango leaves. You leave this in front of the house and it’s considered to be lucky, where the filled pot symbolises a filled or complete household.” Sharing her thoughts on this day being significant to both communities in any way, she agrees that it is a symbol that the fighting needs to stop. “Ironically, the auspicious times in the readings of both communities are also very similar. I think this is a very clear symbol that we shouldn’t have any differences.”

But there are some who don’t feel that the Sinhala and Hindu should be used as a reason or excuse for the two communities to get along. Anushka (21), says, “We don’t have to turn such a simple thing into a big issue. Instead we should just enjoy the new year as just another day, with some sort of importance in it and celebrate it for what it is.”

Dharshinie (23), shares his sentiments. “As far as the similarities go, both communities have the same ‘boiling’ the rice custom but the difference is that ours is sweet rice and not kiri bath. New clothes, going to the temple, doing all this according to the auspicious times and the money exchanging ritual are all quite similar.…and so we can clearly claim this as a ‘truly’ Sri Lankan festival!

So should the Sinhala and Hindu new year be a reason for the two communities to get along? “I firmly believe that we don’t need a ‘reason’, to get along. It’s a genuine feeling that needs to come from the bottom of the heart, irrespective of whether you are Sinhalese or Tamil. It’s as simple as that. I think we all took our first step after boxing day. Irrespective of who the victims of the disaster were, we were all there for them together (at least for the first few days!).

Amesh (22) agrees. “Surely this festival does integrate both societies in the sense that you can relate to each other’s customs since they are pretty much the same but I don’t think that having a similar festival should be seen as a reason for us to get along with each other. We shouldn’t need one in the first place. Belonging to the same country is a good enough reason!”

“I don’t think this day “fell’ on the same day. I believe that long long time ago, when living in the jungles with the animals, we chose this day to be ‘our festival’, together! I don’t think both communities should try and think of reasons to get along with each other when we already have a very clear answer to the question!” says Dhanya (24). “Though we are Hindu, my mum gets someone to make all the kavum and kokis for us or our neighbours pass it on to us! I think it was my mum’s way of teaching me (obviously as a kid) to accept and appreciate the custom (and it’s even better that they are scrumptious!). I feel that it’s the small things like this that make a difference in attitudes.”

Another Sinhala and Hindu new year will come and go... and both communities will celebrate their extremely similar but different customs. Should this event be celebrated as two culturally defined ceremonies, or should they be accepted and merged together as one? So while your eating your juicy kavum, kokis and laddus this year, just give it a thought.

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