The leader of the ‘Sarvajana Balaya’ and Member of Parliament entrepreneur Dilith Jayaweera highlights the Sinhala and Tamil New Year as the grand festival of Sri Lankan culture, noting it has both a cultural and scientific backdrop.
He states that the New Year offers an opportunity for individuals and the nation to correct past shortcomings and begin anew, while also providing a colourful and refreshing break from busy lives spent with loved ones.
He emphasizes that the festival helps pass down noble cultural values such as gratitude, fulfilling duties, and preserving relationships, and notes that the simultaneous national observance of rituals, transactions, and traditions makes Sri Lanka unique in the world.
He describes the New Year as a valuable national heritage that must be safeguarded for future generations, while warning that it currently faces challenges and threats.
He further calls the Sinhala and Tamil New Year a cherished moment for families and extends New Year wishes to all Sri Lankans, wishing them a sweet and happy celebration.
The leader of the ‘Sarvajana Balaya’ and MP Dilith Jayaweera’s Full Message:
“The grand festival of Sri Lankan culture is the Sinhala and Tamil New Year.
The Sinhala New Year is a grand cultural festival, and around it exists a highly advanced and scientific backdrop as well.
On one hand, as a country and a nation, and individually as well, the Sinhala New Year provides an opportunity to correct all the shortcomings and oversights of the past and start anew once more.
On the other hand, it is an opportunity for the Sinhala and Tamil New Year to offer a beautiful and colorful respite to our highly exhausting and busy lives, and to spend time with our loved ones.
Likewise, the Sinhala and Tamil New Year provides space to pass down to the next generation noble qualities that are part of our great culture, such as gratitude, fulfilling duties, preserving kinship and friendships, and the like.
There is no other country in the world where, at one single moment, the entire nation lights lamps, engages in transactions, participates in religious rituals, and partakes in meals.
In that sense, it is because of the Sinhala and Tamil New Year that we Sri Lankans stand before the world as a distinct and enchanting community and collective.
It is a valuable national heritage that we must safeguard and bequeath to future generations. This is our priceless culture.
This time, we are celebrating the Sinhala New Year in a context where our great cultural heritage faces a threat and a challenge.
For the first time in history, the government shows no great enthusiasm for celebrating the Sinhala and Tamil New Year. Moreover, they have also acted to sow doubts about this grand cultural festival.
That is why we intervened and presented the nation with the correct auspicious almanac. The Sinhala and Tamil New Year is a national heritage that we must safeguard and protect.
This moment spent with one’s family and loved ones is the most enchanting moment in a Sri Lankan’s life. Like you, I too am fully savoring and enjoying it.
I wish all Sri Lankans a New Year filled with happiness.”
