Avurudu celebrations in Canberra
View(s):Autumn in Canberra, Australia’s bush Capital, is as distinct as the other seasons but to most, with its riot of colours from fading leaves, beautiful sunsets and wide blue skies, is the best season of all.
Some adults get to show off their skills at the Avurudu festivities in Canberra
To Sri Lankans who have made this great southern land their new home, it is also the time to mark the Sinhala and Tamil New Year….when the people from the island nation try to best emulate the customs and traditions passed onto them through the years by their elders thousands of miles away.Preparations begin well ahead as organisers of several cultural associations strive to organise one event where all Lankans could get together to participate in one big festival.
The afternoon of Saturday, April 13 was a beautiful warm autumn day with blue skies and a temperature of 25 degrees as Lankans gathered at the Melrose High School grounds to hold their festivities. Hundreds of parents and children dressed in their Sunday best with a touch of blue, denoting the auspicious colour, trooped into the school grounds to participate in the festivities.
Words of “SubhaAluthAvuruddakwewa,” accompanied the traditional greeting of clasped hands. Bonds were renewed and new friendships formed as Sri Lankans mingled. Older expatriates noted an increased number of young Sri Lankan couples with children and their elderly parents to whom it was a major outing.
Amidst the chatter the organisers started the activities for the kids. Bun eating competitions with their hands tied behind their backs, hitting the hanging pot while blindfolded, placing the tail on the elephant while blindfolded and lime and spoon races for children and adults were among the activities. An impromptu beer drinking competition for adults, where contestants had to drink the beer from a bottle through a straw saw some Sri Lankan ingenuity when some contestants decided to lose so they could swig the beer at their leisure.
A call to the college hall where Kiribath and other traditional foods were provided for the crowd preceded the selection of the Avurudhu Kumari and Kumaraya. It was followed by traditional dancing from upcountry, the low country and the south. Two musical groups brought back memories with their renditions of some popular Sri Lankan songs.
The fun and games with the tucking into traditional food was the highlight for the children, but a `paduru party’ where anyone could sing or perform was the highlight for adults where evergreens brought poignant memories of their youth and loved ones in a land far away.
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