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LankaTalks
LankaTalks
Mar 31 2026
77From today onwards, the majority of people will go to the ATM, bank, and pawning centre, or to meet a rich friend/relative. That is to borrow some money to ‘celebrate’ the New Year. During the past few weeks, they have spent all their money, especially salaries and bonuses, to make their homes mini storages of supermarkets and ‘mini fuel storages’! Now they are getting ready to ‘celebrate’ the New Year. The current difficult situation created by the Middle East tension is NOT a reason to worry for them. It is the sole responsibility of the Government to look after the people. This is the sick mentality of typical Sri Lankans which has existed during the past several decades. Unfortunately, it is still there without any change!
Sinhala and Hindu New Year is a cultural event that unites all Sri Lankan people and makes them act together at certain given times. This is the main theme of this cultural festival, which is slightly mixed with religious activities. Some say it was introduced to Sri Lankans by Kalinga Magha in ancient times. Others say this festival originated in Sri Lanka. At present, people in Sri Lanka celebrate this event on a grand scale, no matter who introduced it, when, or for what purpose.
These auspicious times are for Sinhalese and Hindus. When it comes to Sinhalese, the Buddha had never instructed them to follow auspicious times. This cannot be found in any of his teachings. Auspicious times are purely connected with culture and astrology, and NOT with Buddhism. Unfortunately, the majority of Buddhists do not know this fact. Many real Buddhist devotees say the best time is now, when someone is capable of doing something.
When it comes to Hindus, they follow auspicious times which are called ‘Muhurta’. The meaning is a moment. The term appears as early as the Rg Veda, where, according to Monier Williams, it means “a moment”. The word ‘Muhurat’ means an auspicious time. In Hindu customs, Muhurat is a time when planets are aligned favourably to ensure positive results. This is directly connected to astrology.
Auspicious Times
We need to mention a few specific individuals who ‘sell’ the New Year auspicious times to various television channels for various prices. They can be very easily identified because they have special auspicious times (Nekatha) even to sneeze or fart. They have collected those useless, meaningless, and fabricated auspicious times for trivial acts in order to pretend that they have ‘knowledge’ of original Sri Lankan culture and traditions. The only new meaningful New Year auspicious time and act added to the traditional Sinhala and Hindu New Year recently is planting a tree. Unfortunately, this auspicious time has been pushed to the end of the peak of the New Year festival.
Following or not following auspicious times should be decided by people because it is directly connected to their religious and cultural rights and independence. No one can decide anything for them. People should decide what they should do. What matters is people’s will. Nothing else matters.
Sinhala and Hindu New Year is celebrated only in Sri Lanka, and there are certain characteristics in it. No matter who does what, we need to protect those characteristics and the identity of the entire festival. To do this, we need to prevent various media outlets, trade organisations, and business tycoons from distorting traditional Sinhala and Hindu New Year rituals, sweetmeats, especially sports, and everything else. For example, sugar should not be added to the traditional sweetmeat ‘Kokis’, but now various traders and self-employed individuals add a lot of sugar to ‘Kokis’, changing its taste, colour, and especially making it unhealthy.
A couple of years ago, there was a type of ‘sport’ introduced in order to totally destroy the essence of the Sinhala and Hindu New Year. Women had to hold bottles of milk (that are used to feed infants) using their armpits, and their husbands/boyfriends were required to suck milk from those bottles. New Year games should NOT be allowed to be distorted. We should NOT allow showing blue films in the name of New Year games.
Adequate Money
The entire country will witness how a large number of people do shopping during the coming days. They will pay money to buy various items required for them and their family members. The meaning is that they have adequate money in their pockets to pay for those goods! It is after stocking entire supermarkets in their homes and turning their homes into mini fuel storages! Who says Sri Lankans do not have money in their pockets? Who says the COL has gone up? No unsold goods will remain by the next weekend.
The other important topic during this festive season is managing your money. It especially applies to ladies. Spending money only on essentials is what should be done during the festive season because spending all the saved money or borrowing money from others will make the New Year miserable! Loans need to be paid back. Festival advances need to be paid back in ten instalments. The meaning is that people need to pay back the festival advance they took until the next New Year arrives! Traders are trying their best to sell everything, but they are NOT essentials. Children should be taught to ask only for what they need and NOT for what they like. Blaming the Government after spending all the money is unacceptable!
We need to prevent various media outlets, trade organisations, and business tycoons, etc. from distorting traditional Sinhala and Hindu New Year rituals, sweetmeats, etc. Sinhala and Hindu New Year should NOT be used to gain publicity, popularity, profit, etc. for media outlets and all the other trade organisations that join with them.
According to recent media reports, rotten food is available all over the country, targeting people who get tired after shopping and do not pay much attention to what they consume. A lot of traders sell fruit drinks along roads and use rotten fruits to make them, which are extremely unhealthy. It is the same with various fast food varieties. In addition, they sell expired and low-quality food items. It is the responsibility of people to be vigilant and only eat and drink quality food and beverages with labels on them which clearly mention expiry dates and details of the manufacturer. It is the same when buying food items from the market. The price does not matter when it comes to health.
Before his brutal assassination, Public Health Inspectors’ Union Treasurer W. D. Roshan Kumara told the Daily News how people encourage producers, importers, distributors, and traders to add poisonous, cancerous substances to food to make those foods look ‘good’. In other words, it is people who can prevent producers, importers, distributors, and traders from adding poisonous substances to food. The matter is with the people and not with anyone else because it is people who always demand good-looking, shiny, non-sticky, non-coagulated food. This year, the PHI Unions have deployed around 1,000 PHIs islandwide to protect people from buying unhygienic food.
Religious Faith
All the businessmen and traders who feed people with poisonous food should remember one thing. No matter what religious faith they believe in, what goes around comes around. That is the rule of Mother Nature which cannot be avoided by any living being. Therefore, is it good not to remember how they fed people with poisonous food while lying on an ICU bed before death?
Sri Lankan drivers who consume liquor as a habit or during special occasions such as parties, etc. should NOT put their own lives and the lives of innocent people in danger by driving under the influence of liquor during this festive season. The people of Sri Lanka will be in celebration, and they do not wish to mourn during or just after the celebration. Therefore, all drivers should NOT drive under the influence of liquor, and they should NOT drive if they feel sleepy or tired. No one in the country wishes to attend a funeral during or just after the celebration.
Nowadays, most families in urban or semi-urban areas just close down their homes and go on trips during the New Year festival. They never stay at home. They do not understand that the whole New Year festival is about home and family. They think that New Year is about eating, dancing, and getting drunk at a hotel or some other place located far away from home and family. This is the ‘New Year’ for the younger generation. But this year, they should refrain from doing this because the country badly needs to save fuel. Fuel should NOT be used to have fun.
Even foreign tourists who visit Sri Lanka during this time celebrate the New Year, and they like traditional sweetmeats, games, etc. very much. It is very unfortunate that they cannot now experience the original Sri Lankan Sinhala and Hindu New Year festival, full of traditional sweetmeats, games, etc., due to distortions. Sinhala and Hindu New Year celebrations will continue until the people of Sri Lanka stop celebrating them.
Source: Daily News
