20090413

“Subha Aluth Avuruddak Weva” - “Putthandu Nal Walthukkal




We wish all our colleagues and their families a Very Happy Sinhala and Tamil New Year.


Dear Friends,

Now is the time for New Year Celebrations in Sri Lanka. We wish you all a Very Happy and Prosperous New Year, С новым годом!


Following extract of a news article written by correspondent Ameen Izzaddeen sheds some light on our New Year.

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Time for New Year arrives in Sri Lanka

It’s holiday season in Sri Lanka. Shops in Colombo and other major cities are kept open till late into the night to allow people to buy clothes, shoes, food items and other necessities in preparation for the upcoming New Year.

On April 13 and 14, when the sun moves from the Meena Rashiya (House of Pisces) to the Mesha Rashiya (House of Aries) in astrological terms, more than 80 per cent of Sri Lankans — the Sinhala Buddhists and the Hindu Tamils — will be celebrating the dawn of New Year, which is one of the most important and looked-forward-to cultural events.

Like the Vaisakhi or Baisakhi New Year festival in India’s Punjab, our New Year, too, had its origins in the harvesting festival and dates back to more than 2,500 years.

For the Sinhalese, it is Aluth Avurudu and the Tamils, it is Puththandu.

The greetings on these days are “Subha Aluth Avuruddak Weva” in Sinhala and “Putthandu Nal Walthukkal” in Tamil-meaning a happy and prosperous New Year.

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